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THE 

VILLAGE BLACKSMITH ; 

Oil, 

PIETY AND USEFULNESS EXEMPLIFIED, 

IN A 

MEMOIR 

OF THE 

LIFE OF SAMUEL HICK, 

LATE t>F MICKLEFIELD, YORKSHIRE, 
BY JAMES EVERETT. 

FROM THE SEVENTH LONDON EDITION, 






NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY G. LANE & P. P. SANDFORD, 

For the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the Conference Office, 
200 Mulberry-street. 

/. Collord, Printer. 
1844 






•■ That not only the maxims, but the grounds ot a pure mo- 
rality,the mere fragments ot which the 'lofty grave tragedians 
aught in ehorus or iambic,' and that the sublime truth of the 
dWne unity and attributes which a Plato found most hard to 
lei™ and deemed it still more diffienltto reveal , that these 
should have become the almost hereditary property of child- 
hood and poverty, of the hovel and the workshop ; that even 
to the unlettered they sound as commonplace, is aphenomenon 
whTd must withhold all but minds of ^e most vulgar cast 
11 undervaluing the services even of the pulpit and the 
™ding-de S l,^^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ {> p m 





GLOSSARY. 


Oftentimes, pronounced offens. 


Our, 


hower. 


Missionaries, . 


mishoners. 


Eaten, 


hetten. 


Eat, 


eight. 


Societies, 


sieiies. 


Would, 


wod. 


Open, 


hoppen. 


People, 


pepell. 


Perfect, 


parjit, or par/eat, generally purfit 


Take, 


tak. 


Make, 


mak. 


Outpouring, . 


howtpowring, exceedingly broad. 


Gave. 


. gav. 


Sown, 


sawn. 


Soon, 


soen. 


Where, 


whur, whor, wor. 


Ordered, 


auder'd. 


Israel, 


Hesrele. 


Should, 


sud. 


Set, 


setten. 


Who, . . 


hoe. 


Mercy, 


marcy. 


What, • • 


wat. 


Enter, 


henter. 


Awake, 


wakken 


Methodists, - • 


Metlerdisses, or Metherdisses. 


Methodist, • • 


Metherdis. 


Turned, « • 


torned. 


Wet, • . 


weet. 


A ladder, 


a stile, a stee. 


Foot, . • 


foet, 




Fool, . . 

School, 

Noon, 


foel, 

skoel, 

noen, 


divided nearly into two 
syllables. 


Night, . . 


neet, 





Thus, agreeably to the above, Samuel, together with 
his less educated neighbours, would pray for the Lord 
to " wakken" the slumbering sinner. 



PREFACE 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



Biographers have occasionally, though per- 
haps unconsciously, glided into two opposite 
extremes : they have either depreciated the 
character of their subjects, or overrated their 
excellences. To the former extreme they 
have been led in various ways ; and in none, 
among the less offensive, more than in writing 
far and near for character; and after securing 
their object, arranging the different materials in 
their works, like witnesses in a court of justice, 
to speak for the person in question. This, to 
say the least, is putting the subject on his trial. 
It is in this way that the Life of that excellent 
man, the late Rev. William Bramwell, has been 
doomed to suffer, and permitted to be swelled 
to a useless extent, by the publication of opin- 
ions* which were never given with a view to 
appear in print ; and which, if even given for 
that purpose, would have the same weight with 
the public that the " Names of Little Note, re- 
corded in the Biographia Britannica," had with 
Cowper, especially in support of the character 
of such a man ; a man who required no such 
adventitious aid, but who, after all the prunings 

* This remark refers to a second volume published in Eng- 
land, but never republished in this country. — Eds. 



b VILLAGE BLACKSMITH PREFACE. 

and parings of those who least admired him, 
and, with only a tithe of his wisdom, looked up- 
on him as a weak enthusiast, would have stood 
a lovely tree in the vineyard of the Lord, re- 
freshing many with his verdure, protecting them 
with his shade, and enriching them with the 
weight and luxuriance of his fruit. When an 
author is reduced to the necessity of going 
abroad in quest of character for his subject, it is 
but too evident that the subject has not been 
sufficiently at home with himself to be known ; 
or, that, in addition to a paucity of material, 
there is either incapacity for the work, or doubts 
of the propriety of its execution. In the pre- 
sent case, either the writer has not humility to 
spare for such condescension, or he wishes not 
to degrade his subject. Having no internal 
misgivings, no suspicion, he considers his hero 
not as on his trial, but one against whom no 
charge is preferred, and therefore deems the 
witness-box unnecessary. Let him not, how- 
ever, be misunderstood ; for though he has 
gone in quest of materials, he has not gone in 
search of character. He has procured materials, 
in order to form an opinion of his own; mate- 
rials, which rose out of a character already 
formed — a character imbodied in a " living 
epistle" before the public, " seen and read of 
all ;" and but for which character, such materi- 
als would not have existed. 

The other extreme into which biographers 
have fallen has had its rise in an overweening 
anxiety and partiality, inducing them on the 



VILLAGE BLACKSMITH PREFACE. 7 

one hand to render the character as perfect as 
possible, in order to secure on the other an 
ample share of the good opinion of the reader. 
Here the writer has again to plead disinclina- 
tion. He has taken up the character of Samuel 
Hick as it was, not as he wished it, nor as it 
ought to be ; and has left the man as he found 
him — in the rough, and unadorned ; somewhat 
resembling the block of marble upon which the 
first efforts of the artist have been employed, 
where the human form has been brought out of 
the unfinished mass, in whose core are to be 
found all those hidden qualities which give 
beauty to the surface, only waiting the masterly 
hand of a Phidias, for the purpose of imparting 
grace, and polish, and finish. 

The circumstances under which the follow- 
ing pages commenced, were carried on, and 
completed, are these : — The good man, whose 
life and character they profess to portray, de- 
posited with the writer, about three years prior 
to the period of his dissolution, some papers, 
with a solemn injunction to prepare them for 
publication. These papers were found to com- 
prise broken materials of personal history, such 
as he himself alone was capable of throwing 
together, and such as it would fall to the lot of 
but few, without previous and personal acquaint- 
ance, to be able to separate and decipher. The 
pledge of preparation was given, without the 
specification of time, on either side, for its ful- 
filment. Such was the heterogeneal character 
of the papers, and such the complexion of many 



8 VILLAGE BLACKSMITH PREFACE. 

of the facts and incidents, that some of the for- 
mer were totally useless, and some of the latter 
unfit to meet the public eye ; the whole requir- 
ing another language, and bare allusion being 
sufficient in many instances where amplification 
had been indulged. Some time previous to the 
decease of the subject, a degree of impatience 
was expressed for the completion of the Me- 
moir : but as no time had been originally speci- 
fied, and as it was known that the good man 
was imprudently pushed on to request its publi- 
cation during life, by injudicious friendship, the 
work, in mercy to himself, and for the still 
higher honour of the religion he professed, nor 
less richly enjoyed, was purposely delayed; 
from an impression that nothing short of the 
publication of the whole would give satisfac- 
tion. The writer's vow being still upon him, 
added to which, having been urged by others 
to furnish the public with a biographical ac- 
count of the deceased, he has employed of the 
papers thus referred to, together with others 
which have since been put into his hands by 
different friends, whatever he has found con- 
vertible to the purpose of affording instruction 
to the Christian community, as illustrative of the 
grace and providence of God ; the whole com- 
bining to furnish a living exposition of what has 
proceeded from the source of truth, where it is 
affirmed that " God hath chosen the foolish things 
of the world to confound the wise ; and God hath 
chosen the weak things of the world to confound 
the things which are mighty ; and base things of 



VILLAGE BLACKSMITH — PREFACE, 9 

the world, and things which are despised, hath 
God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to 
bring to naught the things that are : that no flesh 
should glory in his presence." 

It may be proper to mention, that some time 
after the death of Samuel Hick, the writer 
learned, by an application being made to him 
for materials, that another person had it in con- 
templation to prepare a Memoir ; but it was too 
late : he had gone too far to recede : and as 
he could not conceive what virtue his MS. 
could derive from the simple process of passing 
through a second person's hand to the press, or 
what advantage he could reap by placing the 
fruit of his labour at the disposal of one who 
had neither held the plough nor scattered the 
seed into the furrows, he preferred appearing 
before the public in his own name, without al- 
lowing the imperfections of his pages to be 
charged upon others, or their merit — should 
they possess any — to be claimed by any but 
their legitimate owner. 

Among the persons to whom the writer has 
to acknowledge his obligations for information 
respecting the subject of the Memoir, he would 
not omit his friend, Mr. William Dawson, of 
Barnbow, near Leeds, to whom the work is in- 
scribed, — the Rev. Messrs. H. Beech, A. Lea- 
royd, J. Hanwell, T. Harris, and J. Roadhouse, 
together with Mr. Robert Watson, son-in-law 
of the deceased, and other branches of the fa- 
mily — the latter furnishing him with the use of 
his correspondence. 



ADVERTISEMENT 



SECOND EDITION OF VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



The first impression of this Memoir having 
been sold in about the space of one month after 
its publication, and several orders remaining 
unfulfilled, the writer has been induced to send 
forth a second. Though any attempt to conceal 
his pleasure in the success of the volume would 
appear sheer affectation, he is far from attribut- 
ing the favour with which it has been received 
to the manner in which he has performed his 
task ; for, had it not been for the subject — which 
may be considered in some respects new in bi- 
ography, and as holding the same relation to 
serious reading, as a novel bears to the graver 
character of historical details, the volume might 
have shared the same fate as many superior 
compositions — that of falling dead from the 
press. The literary world has heard a good 
deal lately respecting the romance of history ; 
and they have here an approach to the romance 
of religious biography. Such forms of expres- 
sion, the writer is aware, are liable to objec- 
tions ; but he is unable at present to find a more 
appropriate term to express his views and feel- 
ings in penning the Life of Samuel Hick — a 



VILLAGE BLACKSMITH ADVERTISEMENT. 11 

character so singular, and yet so eminently de- 
voted to God and to the best interests of man. 

The reader will find some errors corrected 
in the present edition, which had found their 
way into the former, — several new incidents 
and anecdotes introduced, — and a public ad- 
dress appended, which the subject of the Me- 
moir delivered in the East Riding of Yorkshire. 
It is not improbable that many of the facts stated 
in both editions may assume a new face to se- 
veral readers — so much so, perhaps, as scarcely 
to be recognised by those who may be in pos- 
session of the hundredth oral edition ; but to 
such persons as are aware how much the same 
tale will become metamorphosed, in its passage 
through a score of different lips and minds, it 
will not be surprising that the writer should 
differ in some important particulars from vague 
report. He might state that he has received 
communications from different persons, each 
professing to have received the intelligence 
from the lips of Samuel himself, yet widely dif- 
ferent often, both in the principle and in the 
detail. This could be accounted for from the 
circumstance of Samuel having entered into parti- 
culars in one instance, and only nafmed the naked 
fact in another ; and also from the different im- 
pressions produced on the minds of the persons 
themselves, none of whom might have thought 
of a publicity beyond the domestic circle ; and 
in each case the lapse of years seriously af- 
fected the memory. Yet, with these inconve- 
niences, and others that will naturally suggest 



12 VILLAGE BLACKSMITH ADVERTISEMENT. 

themselves to the reader, every individual is 
certain, in the integrity of his heart, that his is 
the only correct version. This, as so many 
extraordinary tales have been handed round re- 
specting the subject of the Memoir, is admoni- 
tory of caution; and as the writer has had ac- 
cess to the original documents, as far as penned 
by the subject himself, and from only part of 
which a mutilated copy has been obtained, any 
other separately published Life — under what- 
ever pretensions — should be received with sus- 
picion, both as to its details and the motive for 
publication. 



THE 

VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



CHAPTER I. 

His birth — Parentage — Hears John Nelson — Disturbance 
during street-preaching — Is bound an apprentice to a black- 
smith — His conduct — Attends a lovefeast — Becomes the 
subject of divine impressions — Hears Thomas Peace — Visits 
York — Scenes of riot — Hears Richard Burdsall — His con- 
duct toward a persecuting clergyman — His heart increasingly- 
softened — Conviction — Mr. Wesley — The good effects of 
that venerable man's ministry. 

Samuel Hick, the subject of the present 
memoir, was in the moral world, what some of 
the precious stones are in the mineral kingdom, 
a portion of which lie scattered along the east- 
ern coast of the island, and particularly of York- 
shire, his own county ; — a man that might have 
escaped the notice of a multitude of watering- 
place visiters, like the pebbles immediately un- 
der their eye ; — one who, to pursue the simile, 
was likely to be picked up only by the curious, 
in actual pursuit of such specimens, and thus, 
though slighted and trodden under foot, like the 
incrusted gem, by persons of opposite taste, to 
be* preserved from being for ever buried in the 
dust, as a thing of naught in the sand, after the 
opportunities of knowing his real value — when 
above the surface, had been permitted to pass 



14 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

unobserved and unimproved ; — one of those 
characters, in short, that could only be disco- 
vered when sought after, or forced upon the 
senses by his own personal appearance, in the 
peculiarities by which he was distinguished — 
who was ever secure of his price when found 
— but who would, nevertheless, be placed by a 
virtuoso rather among the more curious and 
singularly formed, than among the richer and 
rarer specimens in his collection. 

He was born at Aberford, September 20th, 
1758, and was one of thirteen children that had 
to be nursed and reared by the " hand labour" 
to employ an expression of his own, of poor, 
but industrious parents. Through the limited 
means of the family, his education was neces- 
sarily very circumscribed, being chiefly confined 
to his letters, in their knowledge and formation, 
without advancing to figures : — and even these 
— such was the blank of being which he expe- 
rienced for several years afterward — appear to 
have been either totally forgotten, or so imper- 
fectly known, as to induce an inability to read 
and write when he reached the age of man- 
hood. This led him, in after life, when Sun- 
day-school instruction dawned upon the world, 
as the morning of a brighter day, to contemplate 
the times with peculiar interest, and to wish 
that he had been favoured with the privileges, 
in his younger years, which he lived to pro- 
mote and to see enjoyed by others. The dream 
of childhood seemed to pass away, with all its 
dangers, its " insect cares," and its joys, withoui 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 15 

leaving a single trace of any interest upon his 
memory, till he reached the seventh year of his 
age ; and one of the first of his reminiscences, 
when sitting down at a kind of halting-post, to- 
ward the close of his journey, to look back on 
all the way which the Lord God had led him in 
the wilderness, was just such an occurrence as 
a mind imbued with divine grace might be sup- 
posed to advert to, — anxious only to fix on fa- 
voured spots, where God is seen in his minis- 
ters, his providence, and his people. 

Field and street-preaching had neither lost its 
novelty through age, nor was it rendered unneces- 
sary by a multiplicity of commodious chapels : 
while the want of a suitable place, therefore, led 
a Wesleyan itinerant preacher to take his stand 
on the market cross, to proclaim, as the herald 
of the Saviour, the glad tidings of salvation, the 
inhabitants of Aberford were allured to the 
ground, in order to listen to his message. Lit- 
tle Samuel mingled with the crowd — gazed with 
a degree of vacancy on the scene — heard, but 
understood not. John Nelson was the preacher 
— a man whose life was full of incident and 
interest — who discovered no less prowess in 
the cause of God, than his namesake, Nelson, 
did upon the element for which he seemed 
called into existence — and who stood, for the 
fame he acquired, in a somewhat similar rela- 
tion to Methodism, that the hero of the Nile 
did to the British nation. In the course of the 
service, a person prepared for the work by in- 
toxication, having had three quarts of ale given 



16 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

to him by three Roman Catholics, who urged 
him to the onset, made considerable disturbance. 
The people were annoyed, and the preacher 
was thwarted in his purpose. The man exhi- 
bited in his hand a piece of paper, from which 
he either read or pretended to read ; and being 
possessed of a powerful voice, he elevated it in 
true stentorian style, and by force of lungs ren- 
dered the feebler voice of- the preacher inau- 
dible. A chain of circumstances contributed to 
preserve the case alive in Samuel's recollec- 
tion. The man was personally known to. him 
— he continued to reside in the neighbourhood 
— afterward lost his sight — was supported by 
begging from door to door — solicited alms from 
Samuel himself, when the latter had become a 
householder — was reminded of the circumstance 
by him, and was either hypocritical or honest 
enough to confess his belief that it was a judg- 
ment from God — expressed his sorrow — and 
finished his course in a workhouse. The uses 
and improvements which Samuel made of cir- 
cumstances and occasions even the most trivial, 
were invariably devotional, and often pertinent, 
From an occurrence like the present, he would, 
in stating it, exclaim, " Though hand join in 
hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished ;" 
then, with his usual quickness, his eyes spark- 
ling, and beaming with a fine flow of grateful 
feeling, he would advert to the difference be- 
tween earlier and more modern times, exulting 
in the quiet which reigned around, " every man" 
being permitted, in patriarchal simplicity, to 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 17 

a sit" and to shelter himself " under his vine 
and under his fig-tree," the hand of persecution 
not being raised " to make him afraid." 

His attention having been once drawn to the 
subject of religion, by the peculiarities of Me- 
thodism, it was soon reawakened by the return 
of the preachers, whose visits, from the compa- 
ratively small numbers of labourers employed, 
were more like the return of the seasons, set- 
ting in, earlier or later, and at wider distances, 
than the regular succession of week after week, 
or month after month. This irregularity, occa- 
sioned by calls to new fields of usefulness, ren- 
dered their visits, like the return of spring, the 
more welcome to religious persons, and pre- 
served on the face of the whole an air of no- 
velty among the profane, which frequent repe- 
tition, by producing familiarity, might have de- 
stroyed. Whoever might have been the minis- 
ters, whether in or out of the Established 
Church, that lie heard — and whatever might 
have been the impressions received, not any 
thing of personal importance is recorded, till the 
lapse of a second seven years, when, at the age 
of fourteen, he was bound an apprentice to Ed- 
ward Derby, of Healaugh, near Tadcaster, to 
learn the trade of a blacksmith. Here he ap- 
pears to have been placed in a situation favour- 
able, in some respects, for religious improve- 
ment ; and in three sentences, the full power 
of which, when tried upon the mind of another 
person, he scarcely understood, he has struck 
off a sketch of his own conduct while filling 
'2 



18 THE* VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

that situation. He states, that he had a " com- 
fortable time," that " the Lord gave" him " fa- 
vour in the eyes of the people," and that he 
""never troubled" his "parents for any thing 
during" his " apprenticeship." We have in 
this, in the way of implication at least, his cha- 
racter as a servant, a neighbour, and a child ; for 
had he not been diligent and faithful as a ser- 
vant, kind and obliging as a neighbour, tender 
and thoughtful as a child, there is not any thing 
to induce us to believe that he could either have 
been comfortable in his service, participated in 
the favour of those around him, or that his pa- 
rents would have been exempt from trouble, 
owing to demands made both upon their pockets 
and their patience. 

He had not been long in his situation before 
curiosity led him to a lovefeast, which was held 
in a barn, at Heaiaugh. A good man of the 
same trade with himself was the door-keeper ; 
and either through a kindly feeling on that ac- 
count, or from his having perceived something 
in Samuel's general demeanour, which excited 
his hope, he permitted him to pass, and ordered 
him to mount the straw, which was piled up in 
a part of the building, in order to make room for 
the people. It was not long before the door- 
keeper left his post, and advancing toward the 
body of the congregation, commenced the ser- 
vice. He remarked, in figurative language, 
when describing the influence of the Spirit of 
God upon his heart, that "the fire was burn- 
ing," and that he " felt it begin at the door." 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 19 

So gross were the conceptions of Samuel, so 
ignorant was he of the ordinary phraseology of 
Christians, that, like Nicodemus on another 
subject, he took the term fire in its literal ac- 
ceptation, and in an instant his fears were 
roused, his imagination was at work, and his 
eye was directed to the door. He deemed his 
situation among the straw as one of the most 
hazardous, and in his imaginings saw himself 
enveloped in flame. He continued to fix an 
anxious eye upon the entrance, but on perceiv- 
ing, as he expressed himself, neither " smpke 
nor fire," his fears were gradually allayed, and 
he again lent an attentive ear to the worthy 
man, who had borrowed his simile, in all proba- 
bility, from the descent of the Holy Ghost, in 
" cloven tongues like as of fire," and whose feel- 
ings seemed to accord with those which stirred in 
the bosom of the psalmist, when he said, " My 
heart was hot within me : while I was musing 
the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue." 
There were two particulars which impressed 
the mind of Samuel, and which he afterward 
pondered in his heart ; the one was the high 
value which the speaker stamped upon his 
office, and upon the place, dignifying the old 
barn with the title of a place of worship, and 
affirming that he " had rather be a door-keeper 
in the house of God, than to dwell in the tents 
of wickedness ;" and the other was his declara- 
tion of a knowledge of the fact, that his sins 
were forgiven. Samuel could not conceive 
how the temporary appropriation of such a- 



20 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

place to divine worship, &c, could constitute it 
" the house of God," or what honour or plea- 
sure a man could derive from the apparently 
humiliating circumstance of keeping watch over 
a door that many would be ashamed to enter. 
But the knowledge of forgiveness puzzled him 
most, and in this he seemed to have a personal 
concern. His spirit clung to the fact, and he 
could not help wishing that the case were his 
own — that he knew it for himself; this plainly 
implying a knowledge of sin, though probably 
he was not painfully oppressed with his load. 
He nook occasion the next day to ask his mas- 
ter how the man could know that his sins were 
pardoned, and to express what he himself felt 
on the subject, — a circumstance which would 
lead to the conclusion, that his master possessed 
something more than the mere semblance of 
Christianity, though not sufficient to lead him 
to establish the practice of family prayer. 

Whatever was the knowledge which the 
master imparted, Samuel's feelings and inquiries 
are evident indications that he was visited with 
" drawings from above ;" and these were fos- 
tered soon after by a local preacher from York, of 
the name of Thomas Peace, who, while preach- 
ing on the " remission of sins," and insisting on 
a knowledge of it, confirmed by Scripture all 
that had been heard from the lips of experience 
in the barn. While the preacher wept, and 
expostulated with the people, Samuel looked, 
and listened, and also wept : but with him they 
were tears of sympathy ; for in his boyish sim- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITM. 



21 



plicity he concluded that the man must have 
just come from the grave of his wife ; and with 
equal simplicity, on his return home, he in- 
quired of his master, who had become his 
oracle, whether it was not on account of the 
death of his wife that the preacher had been 
weeping. His master told him — and this is an 
additional proof of the light which he possessed 
— that the tenderness manifested was occa- 
sioned by the love of God which was shed 
abroad in his heart, inspiring him with love to 
his fellow-creatures. This was too high for 
Samuel's comprehension, but not beyond the 
feelings of his heart. He loved the man while 
hearing him preach, but loved him more now, 
ardently desired his return, and embraced every 
opportunity of attending his preaching. His 
heart was gradually softening — the great sub- 
ject of religion was constantly revolving in his 
mind, like an orb of light, yet he was unable lo 
fasten his thoughts down to the contemplation 
of its particular parts, with the exception of the 
doctrine of pardon — and withal, he had not 
power over moral evil. 

In 1776, when he had attained his eight- 
eenth year* it being customary for the young 
people of the neighbouring towns and villages 
to visit the city of York on Whit-Monday, in 
order to witness scenes of folly and dissipation, 
especially wrestling-matches and fights, the 
victors having prizes conferred upon them, he 
joined his companions, repaired to the spot, 
and became a spectator. But being naturally 



22 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

humane, and not having undergone any course 
of brutal discipline, to render callous the better 
and more tender feelings of his heart, he was 
not able to enter into the spirit of such gladia- 
torial scenes, — scenes more worthy of Greece 
and Rome in their pagan state, than of Christian 
Britain. This was not his element ; it was to 
him a scene of " misery and cruelty," as he 
afterward stated ; and averting his eyes from 
these objects, he was suddenly attracted by 
another crowd of people occupying another part 
of the same public ground, encircling a person 
who was elevated for the occasion, and seemed 
by his attitude to be haranguing his hearers. 
Samuel left his associates, and before the mad- 
dened yells and shouts of profanity had died 
upon his ear, and for which that ear had not 
been tuned, he was saluted with a hymn ; — the 
two extremes furnishing an epitome of heaven 
and hell — the one seen from the other, as the 
rich man beheld Lazarus, only with this impor- 
tant difference among others, no impassable 
" gulf" was " fixed" between ; '' so that they 
which would pass from" one to the other might 
avail themselves of the privilege. This was a 
moment of deep interest ; and on this single 
act, through the Divine Being putting special 
honour upon it, might hinge in a great measure 
the bearings of his future life. He was partial 
to singing, and as the hymn was sung in differ- 
ent parts he was the more delighted. The 
conspicuous figure in the centre was the late 
Richard Burdsall, of York, father of the Rev, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 23 

John Burdsall, who had, with his usual daring, 
entered the field against the enemy, and was 
mounted on what Samuel designated " a block," 
for the purpose of giving him a greater advan- 
tage over his auditory, while animadverting on 
the profligacy of the times.* Mr. Burdsall was 
remarkably popular in his day, and was just 
such a preacher as Samuel, from the peculiar 
construction of his own mind, was likely to fix 
upon, — one who would, on- comparing the one 
with the other, have stood at the head of the 
same class at school, in which Samuel would 
have been placed at \hsfoot; both being ^ for 
the class, as well as o/*it, — only the one having 
attained to greater proficiency than the other, in 
a somewhat similar line.f 

Samuel's attention was soon gained, and his 
affection won, which, to Mr. Burdsall, was of 
no small importance ; for as he was proceeding 
with the service, a clergyman advanced toward 
him, declaring that "he should not preach 
there, not if he were the Lord Mayor him- 
self," threatening to "pull him down from the 

*The Wesleyan Methodists have always been distin 
guished for their zealous attempts to reclaim the worst part 
of human nature first : for this purpose they have resorted to 
markets, feasts, and fairs ; and in looking at the situation of 
some of their oldest chapels, Whitby and other places, it 
will be found that they frequently pitched their tents in the 
most Sodomitish parts of a town, with a view to improve the 
more depraved as well as the lower grades of society. 

f Quaintness, wit, and imagination, were rarely absent in 
Mr. B. Speaking to the writer once, in the city of York, 
on his early call to the ministry, he said, " I seem to have 
been something like a partridge : I ran away with the shell 
on my head." 



24 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

block." Just as he was preparing to carry his 
designs into execution, Samuel, whose love to 
the preacher was such, that he felt, as he ob- 
served, as if he " could lose the last drop of" 
his " blood" in his defence, stepped up to the 
clergyman, clenched his hands, and holding 
them in a menacing form to his face, accosted 
him in the abrupt and measured terms of the 
ring upon which he had but a few minutes be- 
fore been gazing, — " Sir, if you disturb that 
man of God, I will drop you as sure as ever 
you were born." There was too much empha- 
sis in the expression, and too much fire in the 
eye, to admit a doubt that he was in earnest. 
The reverend gentleman felt the force of it — 
his countenance changed — the storm which was 
up in Samuel had allayed the tempest in him — 
and he looked with no small concern for an 
opening in the crowd, by which he might make 
his escape. Samuel, though unchanged by di- 
vine grace, had too much nobleness of soul in 
him to trample upon an opponent who was thus 
in a state of humiliation before him ; and there- 
fore generously took him under his protection, 
made a passage for him through the audience, 
and conducted him to the outskirts without mo- 
lestation, when he quickly disappeared. The 
manner in which this was done, the despatch 
employed, and the sudden calm after the com- 
motion, must have produced a kind of dramatic 
effect on the minds of religious persons, who, 
nevertheless, in the midst of their surprise, 
gratitude and even harmless mirth at the pre- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 25 

cipitate flight of their disturber, who was con- 
verted in an instant by a mere stripling from 
the lion to the timid hare, would be no more 
disposed to justify the clenched fist, — the earth 
helping the woman in this way, — than they could 
be brought to approve of the zeal of Peter, 
when, by a single stroke, he cut off the right 
ear of the high priest's servant. Samuel in- 
stantly resumed the attitude of an attentive 
hearer, without any apparent emotions from 
what had just transpired. In the launching 
forth of his hand, he gave as little warning as 
the thunderbolt of heaven ; the flash of his eye 
was like the lightning's glare — a sudden burst 
of passion, withering for a moment — seen — and 
gone. 

The following good effects resulted from this 
sermon — a high respect for the preacher, and a 
stronger attachment to the Methodists as a peo- 
ple ; both having a tendency to lead him to the 
use of the means by which the Divine Being 
conveys grace to the hearts of his creatures. 
He remarked, that after this period, in following 
Mr. Burdsall from place to place, he travelled 
" many scores of miles," and that he " never 
heard" him without being " blessed" under his 
preaching. His feelings were in unison with 
those which dictated Ruth's address to Naomi, 
" Whither thou goest, I will go ; thy people 
shall be my people, and thy God my God ;" 
and as far as circumstances would admit, and 
he had light to discover the truth, he laboured 
to give vent to the overflowings of his heart. 



26 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH, 

His case was one which would lead to the con- 
clusion, that his religion commenced in heat 
rather than light; that he continued for some 
time, even beyond this period, more the subject 
of impression than of instruction ; felt, in short, 
what he was unable to express to others, and 
for which he could not account to himself. He 
had been touched by the wand of Moses at 
Horeb, which had unlocked some of the secret 
springs of his heart, and put them in motion, 
rather than been in the tabernacle with Aaron 
the priest, illuminated and perfected by the 
Urim and the Thummin. His heart was much 
more assailable than his head, and, as will af- 
terward appear, was much more at work through 
life, and had a more commanding influence 
over his conduct. Divine light was admitted 
but slowly, not so much through any violent 
opposition to it, or any process of reasoning 
carried on iu his mind against any of the par- 
ticular doctrines of the gospel, as through a 
want of power to arrange and classify his 
thoughts, to connect one subject with another, 
to trace effects to their causes ; a want of the 
means of information, as well as a relish for 
reading, had the means been at hand ; a cer- 
tain quickness in catching particular points, 
which led him to think as some Hibernians are 
led to speak ; and a peculiarly animated tem- 
perament, which disposed him to warm himself 
at the fire of the Christian altar, rather than 
silently gaze upon a cloudless sky, the splendid 
canopy of the great temple of the universe. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 27 

He seemed, in fact, to carry the more fiery 
part of his trade into his religion, as he subse- 
quently carried every part of his religion into 
his trade. Full of the best and warmest feeling 
for the religion of Christ and its professors, 
and using the means in order to attain it, he 
was now in a hopeful way, not only of verging 
toward it, but of entering into its genuine spirit. 
To these kindlings, yieldings, and advances, 
was at length added conviction^ though not the 
most poignant. The clouds which overhung 
his mind began to break away. This was ef- 
fected by the ministry of the Rev. John Wesley. 
The chronology of this event is placed by 
Samuel's widow in the fifteenth year of his 
age ; but by himself, after the period of his 
having heard Mr. Burdsall : and although the 
memory of the former is generally more to be 
depended upon than that of the latter, yet in 
this case Samuel was probably the more cor- 
rect of the two. It was in the old chapel at 
Leeds where he heard the founder of Method- 
ism ; and he scarcely appears to have been 
sufficiently impressed with the importance of 
personal salvation, during the first year of his 
apprenticeship, to lead him so many miles from 
home to hear a sermon ; nor does he refer to 
any thing that seems to amount to conviction 
prior to his York excursion. Still, the date is 
of minor importance, provided the fact be se- 
cured ; and the principal point to be attended 
to is that of tracing the progressive steps by 
which he was led to the knowledge of himself 



28 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

and of God, and to the enjoyment of "pure and 
undefiled religion." On entering the chapel, 
he was awed and delighted at Mr. Wesley's 
appearance, who, according to his conceptions 
of angelic beings, seemed at first sight to be 
"something more than man," even " an angel" 
of God. This prepossession in favour of. the 
preacher, naturally prepared the way for a 
speedy reception of the truths delivered. There 
was one subject, however, and all in favour of 
the preacher which Samuel was at a loss to 
comprehend. Mr. Wesley's prophetic soul 
was led out, in some part of the discourse, to 
connect with the revival of religion which was 
going on, more glorious times ; intimating that 
when his dust should mingle with the clods of 
the valley, ministers more eminently successful 
than either himself or others by whom he was 
surrounded, would be raised to perpetuate and 
extend the work. Not distinguishing between 
ministerial talent and ministerial usefulness, 
Samuel thought Mr. Wesley intimated that 
greater preachers than himself would supply his 
place ; thus giving Mr. Wesley the credit of 
indirectly associating himself with the great, 
though greater were to tread in his steps. 
Samuel, according to his own exposition of Mr. 
Wesley's words, could not conceive it within 
the range of possibility for any one to equal, 
much: more to surpass him ; for, to use his own 
language, " he preached like an angel." The 
text was, " Show me thy faith without thy 
works, and I will show you my faith by my 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 29 

works/' James ii, 18. In addition to Mr. Wes- 
ley's appearance, and his exalted character as 
a preacher, we discover part of the secret of 
Samuel's estimate of him in himself. It might 
now be said of him, as of Saul of Tarsus, " And 
there fell from his eyes as it had been scales ;" 
immediately his mental vision was rendered 
more acute, as well as enlarged. On hearing 
Mr. Wesley, he emphatically " received his 
sight," and that too in the most important sense ; 
he had listened to one, of whom he might have 
said, not indeed as the woman of Samaria, 
" Come, see a man that has told me all things that 
ever I did," but "Come, see a man that has told 
me all things of which I am destitute." Though 
he could not give any correct account of the 
manner in which the subject was treated, there 
was one conclusion which he was enabled to 
draw from the whole, and which penetrated too 
deeply for him ever to forget, that he possessed 
neither faith nor works which God could either 
approve or accept. 

In no previous instance had the hand of God 
been so visible as in this ; and the state of the 
subject of the memoir may be illustrated by that 
of one of two persons shut up in a dark room, 
where the other, having seen it by daylight, ex- 
patiates to his fellow an hour or two on its 
height, length, width, and form, the nakedness* 
and colour of the walls, with all its other pecu- 
liarities. From the description given, aided by 
his blind attempts to feel his way into every 
corner, and lay his hand upon every thing with- 



30 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

in his reach, the hearer may be able to form 
some conception of the apartment and situation 
in which he stands. But it is easy to conceive 
that a third person opening the door, and enter- 
ing the room with a lighted taper in his hand, 
would throw more light upon the subject in one 
single moment, than a person of the highest de- 
scriptive powers, through description alone, 
could do in twelve hours. This, though not a 
perfect illustration, is sufficient for the present 
purpose : Samuel had heard preaching repeat- 
edly ; a description of the moral condition of 
man, of the new creature in Christ Jesus, of the 
awful and glorious realities of an invisible world, 
of every thing, in short, connected with man as 
the subject of the moral government of God, 
had been given in the discourses which he had 
heard ; but through his own supineness, his 
not asking for divine aid, or, if he asked, his 
asking amiss, he remained in the " darkness" 
of ignorance, error, and unbelief, without 
" light" to guide him either in his conceptions, 
his decisions, or his walk. He, however, who 
commanded light to shine out of darkness, com- 
manded it here to shine into darkness ; a pure 
ray was shot from the Sun of righteousness, 
illuminating all within. Samuel found the 
" house" empty of all good, not swept of evil, nor 
garnished with holiness. It was light which 
produced a conviction, not so much of the pre- 
sence of evil, as of the absence of good. He 
saw that he was "poor" and "naked" and had 
till now been "blind;" but the negative cha- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 31 

racter of his conviction did not constitute him 
"wretched" because of sin, or "miserable" be- 
cause of the enormity of that sin. The flaming 
sword was permitted to turn only in one direc- 
tion ; other operations were apparently re- 
strained, when the present had its full effect, 
and the subject was more fully prepared for 
their exercise. The Holy Spirit had been al- 
ready in operation, softening and gently impress- 
ing the heart, all preparatory to a farther work 
of grace. There was fire, as has been previ- 
ously stated ; but it was fire without flame, Are 
smouldering under ashes, and consequently in- 
capable of emitting the beneficial light. It was 
now that the shades of night, in which he had 
been so long enveloped, seemed to say, as the 
angel said to Jacob, " Let us go, for the day 
breaketh." 



CHAPTER II. 

He leaves his master before the expiration of his appren- 
ticeship — Is providentially directed to a suitable situation, 
and commences business for himself — His marriage — His 
benevolence — Death of his wife's mother — Is alarmed by a 
dream — Obtains mercy — Suddenness of his conversion — Its 
fruits — His zeal — Answer to prayer, and effects of his ex- 
postulation with a landlady — Summary of the evidence of 
his conversion. 

It has been quaintly, but significantly ob- 
served, in reference to the providential lot of 
human beings, th'at " every peg has its hole." 



32 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Whatever may have been the primary design of 
the remark, it is certainly applicable to the no- 
tions of personal comfort and probable useful- 
ness ; the former effected by the adaptation of 
the pin to the place and of the place to the pin, 
and the latter by its projection, going beyond 
itself, so to speak, affording an opportunity, 
both to friends and strangers, of suspending 
upon its form whatever they may desire, whe- 
ther from inclination or necessity. And the 
man who permits his Maker to " choose" his 
u inheritance" for him, will rarely be placed in a 
situation in which it will be impossible for 
some of his fellow-creatures to hang upon him 
their hopes, their weaknesses, and their wants. 
This will apply with equal propriety to persons 
in humble life, as to persons in the more ele- 
vated ranks of society. We are taught the doc- 
trine of a wise and bountiful Providence in the 
fall of a " sparrow," and in the adornings of 
" the lilies," of a Providence which is both per- 
missive and active in its operations, directing in 
the outset, and entering into the minutest cir- 
cumstances of human life. General observa- 
tion would almost warrant the belief, that there 
is a starting point for every man, later or earlier 
in life, subject to his own choice : and in pro- 
portion as he proceeds along the line, or devi- 
ates from it, will be the amount of his success 
or adversity, connecting with the situation, in 
the person that holds it, industry, economy, and 
integrity. The principal difficulty is in the 
choice. Religiously to determine this, we ought 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 33 

never to lose sight of the circumstances of the 
case, personal competency, and general useful- 
ness. Several of these remarks will apply to 
the subject of this memoir. 

Though Samuel had acted in the capacity of 
a faithful servant to his master for some years, 
a circumstance took place which led to a sepa- 
ration before the expiration of his apprentice- 
ship. His master's daughter had conceived an 
attachment to him, which was returned, though 
not to the same extent, by Samuel. This natu- 
rally led to certain domestic attentions, in 
which the young woman contributed to his 
comforts ; and having a little money at com- 
mand, she occasionally assisted him, with a 
view to give strength to the bond which sub- 
sisted. His master coming down stairs one 
morning, a little earlier than usual, found him 
seated with Miss Derby on his knee. He in- 
stantly returned, and told his wife, whom he 
had left in bed : and after opening the circum- 
stance, said, "I believe she is as fond of the 
lad as ever a cow was of a calf." On again 
descending the stairs, he chided them both, and 
signified his disapprobation of all attachment. 
The day passed on, with evident indications 
that the master was brooding on the subject; 
and at length he ordered Samuel, with a good 
deal of angry feeling, to leave his house and his 
service. The dismissal having been given at 
an evening hour, Samuel requested permission 
to remain till the next day, which was granted. 
To prevent any matrimonial connection from 
3 



34 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH, 

taking place between them, the father, on 
Samuel's removal, contrived to form a union 
between his daughter and a person of some 
property, but much her senior, offering as an 
inducement a handsome dowry. Miss D. wrote 
to Samuel the day previous to her marriage, re- 
questing him to meet her at a specified time 
and place, pledging herself to him for ever, as 
the sole object of her first affection. Poor' 
Samuel was placed in circumstances at the 
time from which it was impossible to escape ; 
and the fitful moment glided away from both 
without improvement, to their inexpressible 
grief. As this was a compulsory measure, the 
bride gave her hand without her heart ; her 
spirits shortly afterward became depressed, and 
confirmed insanity ensued. Samuel was sent 
for by her friends — he obeyed the summons — 
the sight of him increased her malady, and add- 
ed to the poignancy of his own feelings — he 
hastily withdrew — and she died soon after. 
As an affair of honour, it may be said, " In all 
this" Samuel 4: sinned not." * Abandoned, how- 
ever, as he was, by his master, the Lord di- 
rected him by his providence. 

Without giving the West Yorkshire dialect, 
which he wrote as well as spoke, and which it 
would be as difficult for persons in the southern 

* Old Mrs. Derby, who survived Samuel, and was living at 
Healaugh, in 1831, in the 90th year of her age, was very 
partial to him, always styling him, " Our Sam ;•" and Mr. D., 
on seeing his daughter's distress, was heard to say, " O that 
I had let Sammy have my lass !" Samuel paid occasional 
visits to his old mistress to the end of his days. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 35 

counties of England to read and to understand, 
without a glossary, as the " Lancashire dialect," 
the substance of his relation, when " entering 
upon the world," to employ a familiar phrase, 
is clear, simple, and touching. " When I was 
one and twenty years of age," he states, "there 
was a shop at liberty, at Micklefield, and my 
father took it for me. I here began business 
for myself; and when I had paid for my tools, 
I was left without a penny in my pocket, or a 
bit of bread to eat. But I was strong, in good 
health, and laboured hard ; and that God who 
sent the ravens to feed his servant, fed me. 
One day, while at work, a man came into my 
shop, who told me that his wife had fed the 
pig so fat as to render it useless to the family, 
and that he would sell me the one half of it very 
cheap. I told him that I wished it were in my 
power to make the purchase — that I was much 
in need, but that I was without money. He 
replied, he would trust me : and I agreed to 
take it. I mentioned the circumstance to a 
neighbour, who offered to lend me five pounds, 
which I accepted : and out of this I paid the 
man for what I had bought. I continued to la- 
bour hard, and the Lord, in his abundant good- 
ness, supplied all my wants." From this it 
would seem that he had not been anxiously 
looking in every direction for a situation, and 
that, on finding every providential door shut 
had sat down to quarrel with the dispensations 
of God, or made some hazardous attempts to 
force an opening : nor was the situation at first 



36 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

either perceived by himself, or the door — to pro- 
ceed with the allusion — but slightly turned up- 
on its hinges, leaving the possibility or propriety 
of entrance still problematical. It was thrown 
open by the hand that regulates all human af- 
fairs — circumstances invited the father to the 
spot — he took his survey — Samuel, having been 
released from his connection with his master, 
found the occurrence seasonable — poverty was 
his portion, but no capital was requisite for the 
purchase of stock — previous industry and eco- 
nomy prepared him to meet the expense of 
tools — his father led him up to the door which 
his Maker had opened — labour was instantly 
furnished, and the " daily bread," for which he 
was commanded to pray, was supplied — the 
confidence and kindness of friends encouraged 
him to proceed — and there he continued, suc- 
ceeded, and was afterward useful. Providence 
appeared to meet him at every turn, and, as in 
a piece of wedge-work, adapted its movements 
to all the peculiarities of his case. 

After having been established in business for 
the space of eighteen months, without appa- 
rently elevating his mind above the drudgery 
of the day, he meditated a change in his do- 
mestic circumstances. " The Lord," he ob- 
serves, " saw that I wanted a helpmeet" — he 
knew the character that " would suit me best" 
— and was so " kind" as to furnish me with 
" one of his own choosing." From the form of 
expression employed, it would seem that there 
was an allusion to his first attachment, which 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 37 

he might be led to consider as not of God, from 
the circumstance of his having been thwarted 
in his purpose. His courtship, in its com- 
mencement and termination, preserves the sin- 
gularity which distinguished most of the leading 
transactions of his life. His partiality to sing- 
ing led him to unite himself to the choir that 
attended Aberford church, which union con- 
tinued for the space of ten years. Here he 
became acquainted with her who was destined 
to be his bride, and to survive him as his wi- 
dow. The first time he saw her, which was 
during divine service, it was powerfully im- 
pressed upon his mind that she would one day 
become his wife. Under such impression, and 
in great simplicity, he walked up to her imme- 
diately on leaving the church, and unbosomed 
his feelings and thoughts on the subject. She 
heard his first lispings with surprise, and felt 
their force ; for from that period they delighted 
in each other's society, and were finally united 
in holy matrimony in SpofTord church. She 
was six years older than himself. On leaving 
the hymeneal altar, and reaching the church 
door, a number of poor widows pressed around 
him to solicit alms. His heart was touched ; 
the tear was in his eye ; " I began the world," 
said he to himself, " without money, and I will 
again begin it straight." The thought was no 
sooner conceived, and the generous impulse 
felt, than the hand, which emptied the pocket, 
scattered the last pence of which he was pos- 
sessed among the craving applicants. The 



38 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

bride being entitled to some property, and work 
pouring in upon him, his exhausted stores were 
soon recruited : and believing that a blessing 
followed the donation, he appended to a narra- 
tive of the event, in a tone of triumph, " The 
Lord gave me a good wife, and I have never 
wanted money since that day." 

The fine glow of devotional feeling occasion- 
ally experienced in his youth, had for some 
time become extinct ; and he had not in his 
present situation been brought into contact with 
any decidedly religious character to revive it, 
except the mother of his wife, who was a member 
of the Wesleyan connection. He complained 
that at this period his wife and himself were 
" both strangers to saving grace" — that " the 
parish" could not boast of a single Methodist, 
and that there was not " one" of his " own 
family that knew the Lord." His mother-in- 
law, who, it would seem, did not reside in the 
same parish with himself, often spoke to him on 
the subject of religion, and interceded with God 
both for him and his partner. Example, ex- 
hortation, and prayer were ineffectual. The 
appeal was to be made to the passions ; and 
through these was the entrance to be made, 
which would effect his deliverance from the 
thraldom of Satan. His mother-in-law sickened 
and died. The happiness she experienced in 
her last hours softened the heart and reawak- 
ened the attention of Samuel to the concerns of 
his soul. This however, but for what he de- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 39 

nominated a " vision," had been " as the early- 
dew that passeth away." 

Three days after her dissolution, he dreamed 
that she appeared to him arrayed in white, took 
him by the hand, and affectionately warned 
him to flee from the wrath to come ; stating, 
that if he did not repent he would never meet 
her in the paradise of God. At the close of 
the address, the visionary form vanished ; con- 
viction, while he slumbered, seized his spirit ; 
he awoke in terror, and, to use his own lan- 
guage, "jumped out of bed," thus furnishing 
another exposition of the language of the " man 
in the land of Uz," — " When I say, My bed 
shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my com- 
plaint ; then thou scarest me with dreams, and 
terrifiest me through visions." This sudden 
spring from the bed roused his wife : his groans 
and distress alarmed her ; and supposing him 
to have been suddenly seized with some com- 
plaint that threatened his life, she was proceed- 
ing to awaken the neighbours, and to call them 
to her assistance, when she was arrested in her 
course, in the midst of the darkness with which 
she was surrounded, with a sentence wrung 
from the depths of his agonized spirit, and ut- 
tered in sobs : " I want Jesus — Jesus, to pardon 
all my sins." It was sufficient for her to know 
that he was not in immediate danger from 
affliction ; her fears were therefore quickly dis- 
sipated, but she could afford him no consola- 
tion. This he seemed to feel, and observed, 
" I had no Paul to sav to me, ' Believe on the 



40 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;' 
nor any praying wife to pray for me." It was 
the midnight of desolation ; and the only light 
by which the way of mercy could be discovered, 
was from within. The flood of day which was 
poured upon his mind was as strong as it was 
sudden ; and differing in degree from that with 
which he was visited under the ministry of Mr. 
Wesley, he now beheld both sides of his case, 
not only the absence of all good, but the presence 
of real evil. " My eyes," said he, " were 
opened — I saw all the sins I had committed 
through the whole course of my life — I was 
like the psalmist — I cried out like the jailer." 
He added with considerable emphasis, " I did 
say my prayers," continuing, " as I never did 
before ;" meaning that he had only said them 
previously to this period. He further observed 
that it might have been said of him, as of Saul, 
" Behold he prayeth" 

The ministerial instruction which he had at 
different periods received, led him, in the midst 
of much ignorance on other subjects, to adopt 
the proper means, and to look to the true source 
of happiness, in order to its attainment. He 
had heard of one Jesus of Nazareth, like Saul ; 
and though that Jesus had not before been ex- 
perimentally revealed to him, yet such was the 
nature of the light which he received, that it 
enabled him to recognise in Him from whom it 
proceeded the face of a Saviour, and a Friend. 
The Sun of righteousness, like the orb of day, 
discovers himself by his own shining. It is in 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 41 

his light that we see light. Samuel was in the 
light, in the midst of natural darkness ; and 
though he could not hear the prayers of a wife, 
he had confidence in the intercession of a Sa- 
viour. "Jesus," said he, "was my advocate; 
I put in my case, and he pleaded for me before 
the throne of God. I believed that the blood 
of Christ was shed for me ; and the moment I 
believed, I found peace. 1 could adopt the lan- 
guage of the poet : — 

1 My God is reconciled, 

His pard'ning voice I hear ; 
He owns me for his child, 

I can no longer fear ; 
With confidence I now draw nigh, 
And, Father, Abba, Father, cry.' " 

His state, as an inhabitant of the natural 
world, afforded a fair exemplification of the 
change through which he passed. He reposed 
himself in darkness — lay in that darkness, like 
the dead in the tomb — and was passing through 
this insensible state to the light of another day. 
On the same evening, as a sinner before his 
God, he lay down in the darkness of a deeper 
night than that which veils the face of nature — 
was the subject of a more terrible death than 
that of which sleep is but the image — awoke in 
spiritual light — and was, ere the natural light 
broke upon his eye, enabled to exult in the 
dawn of a fairer morning than ever beamed up- 
on our earth — a morning which can only be 
surpassed by the morning of the resurrection, 
when the just shall kindle into life at the sight 



42 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

of the Sun of righteousness, to which this, 
through the vivifying rays of the same Sun,- 
formed the happy prelude. Spiritual life suc- 
ceeded spiritual light. To object to the genuine- 
ness of the work, because of its suddenness, would 
be to plead a " needs be" for our continuance in 
a state of comparative darkness, danger, misery, 
and death, in opposition to the end proposed by 
the scheme of human redemption through Jesus 
Christ, which was to complete our deliverance 
from such a state — would be to prescribe limits 
to the power, goodness, and purity of " the 
Holy One of Israel," as though he were unable 
to effect such a change but by degrees, unwill- 
ing at once to soothe our sorrows, and approv- 
ing of our continuance in a state of moral defile- 
ment — would be to doubt the veracity of the 
Holy Ghost, in his statements of the sudden 
illumination of Saul, the sudden conviction of 
the multitude under the preaching of Peter, and 
the instantaneous pardon of the penitent thief — 
and would, finally, be to obstruct the course of 
our obedience, in compliance with all the ex- 
hortations which urge us, and all the injunctions 
which bind us to an immediate preparation for 
another state of being, as well as needlessly 
expose us, through sudden death, to the " bitter 
pains" of death eternal. 

But the doctrine of sudden conversion is be- 
coming every day less objectionable ; and the 
" holy ground" on which that conversion takes 
place, is not barely visited by the hymning 
seraphs of the Christian Church, who chant their 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 43 

songs within the sacred enclosure, but is re- 
spected and honoured by some of our first epic 
poets from without, through whose pen the 
ground has at length become poetically classic- 
al.* Thus, in " The Poet's Pilgrimage to 
Waterloo," the author, in his moments of 
vision, after tasting the tree of knowledge, 
sings : — 

" In awe I heard, and trembled, and obey'd ; 

The bitterness was even as of death ; 
I felt a cold and piercing thrill pervade 

My loosen'd limbs, and losing sight and breath, 
To earth I should have fallen in despair, 
Had I not clasp'dthe cross, and been supported there. 

* My heart, I thought, was bursting with the force 

Of that most fatal fruit ; soul-sick I felt, 
And tears ran down in such continuous course 

As if the very eyes themselves should melt ; 
But then I heard my heavenly Teacher say, 
* Drink, and this mortal stound shall pass away/ 

* I stoop'd and drank of that divinest well, 

Fresh from the Rock of ages where it ran. 
It had a heavenly quality to quell 

My pain : — 1 rose a renovated man, 
And would not now, when that relief was known, 
For worlds the needful suffering have foregone." 

These sentiments, though highly poetical, take 
their root in fact, and owe their beauty and 
their excellence to truth, of which they are the 
fictitious representatives. The deep distress, 
the heart- sickness referred to, would, by a sim- 
ple-hearted Christian, be styled deep conviction 
for sin, or the pains of repentance antecedent to 

* See the writer's Letter to Dr. Southey, Poet Laureate, 
on the Life of Mr. Weslry. 



44 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

pardon; by a philosopher, a species of religious 
madness. The passing away of the "mortal 
stound" would be contemplated under the notion 
of peace of mind, after the penitent had by faith 
" clasped the cross" or rather the Crucified. The 
brief space of time allotted for the whole would 
at once entitle the work to the general appella- 
tion of sudden conversion : for the poet had only 
to stoop — to drink — to rise, and to rise too a 
renovated man. This bears such a striking 
analogy to the case of the sin-sick village 
blacksmith, whose personal history is passing 
in review — who knelt in distress before his 
God — implored mercy — and rose renewed and 
happy — that the poet, had he known the fact, 
could scarcely have been more felicitous in its 
illustration. 

So fully satisfied was Samuel himself of the 
genuineness of the work, that he frequently, in 
after life, when dwelling upon his religious 
views and feelings, recurred to the very " flag" 
on which he knelt, and where he remained as 
he had risen from his couch, unannoyed by the 
cold, till he experienced peace with God. No 
sooner was he put in possession of the " pearl 
of great price," than he waited with the anxiety 
of the watchman for the morning, to be delivered 
from a situation which had become burdensome 
through overwrought joy, — a joy which could 
only find relief in the hearts of others — hearts 
ready, as the recipients of its overflowings, to 
share in its fulness. But where were hearts to 
be found to become the receptacles of such joy ? 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 45 

It was not for him to say, with the psalmist, 
" Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I 
will declare what he hath done for my soul ;" 
or, " I will declare thy name unto my brethren: 
in the midst of the congregation I will praise 
thee." Though congregations were not remote, 
yet there were no brethren with whom he could 
claim religious affinity, none that feared God, 
with whom he was acquainted. He resolved, 
therefore, to proclaim the goodness of God to 
his " neighbours ;" and like Melancthon, to 
whom truth appeared at first so simple, and yet 
so forcible, that he instantly calculated on the 
conquest of others, but had soon to complain 
that old Adam was too strong for young Me- 
lancthon, Samuel — and the thought has haunted 
many beside these, both learned and illiterate — 
contemplated nothing short of the sudden con- 
version of every person in the neighbourhood. 
4t I thought," he remarked, " I could make all 
the world believe, when day-light appeared. I 
went to my neighbours, for I loved my neigh- 
bour as myself. I wished them all to experi- 
ence what I felt. The first that I went to was 
a landlady. I told her what the Lord had done 
for me ; and that what he had done for me he 
could do for her, exhorting her to pray and be- 
lieve." This was no new language to the ear 
into which it was poured, for the woman seemed 
to know to what source it was traceable. 
" What," she retorted, " have you become a 
Methodist? You were a good neighbour, and 
a good man before ; and why change ? The 



46 . THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Methodists are a set of rogues, and you will 
soon be like them." Samuel, who was at least 
guiltless of Methodism, had too important a sub- 
ject in hand to spend his time in disclaiming 
his brotherhood, and therefore continued to press 
upon her attention the necessity of personal re- 
ligion, telling her, if her " sins" were "not par- 
doned," it would be impossible for her to go " to 
heaven." Unprepared for such service, partly 
from the early hour, partly from the personal 
nature of the discourse, but more especially 
from the character of the preacher, who, only 
the day before, had given so little promise of 
any thing of the kind, she became indignant, 
and in her ire turned him out of the house, in 
which he might have remained till evening, re- 
ducing himself, by intoxication, beneath a level 
with the brute creation. Fiery as w r as his zeal 
for her salvation, he received the requital of his 
good intentions with meekness ; and instead of 
repining at the rebuff, retired to a field, and 
poured out his soul in prayer to God on her be- 
half. He had just been favoured with a proof 
of the efficacy of prayer in his own case ; and 
the simple thought that "what God had done 
for himself he could do for others," so fully oc- 
cupied his mind, that, in its strength and simpli- 
city, he was led on from one part of prayer 
to another — from confession, supplication, and 
thanksgiving, in reference to himself, to that of 
intercession for those around. The fire of di- 
vine love burned upon the altar of his heart, faith 
was in exercise, hope was on the wing, every 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 47 

feeling, though infantile, was strong — he again 
returned to the contest, but what a change ! 
" To my surprise," he observed, " when I went 
back she was crying in the doorstead. She 
asked me to forgive her. ' O yes, that I will,' I 
said ; and if you will let me go in, and pray 
with you, the Lord will forgive you too." His 
words and his manner, when the woman was 
left to herself, had been the subject of reflec- 
tion ; and, from the impression made, she rea- 
dily acceded to the proposal. " She took me," 
continued he, " into a room ; and there I prayed 
for her. It was not long before the Lord blessed 
her ; and he thus gave me the first soul I asked 
for. He can do a great work in a little time. 
She lived and died happy. This encouraged 
me to go on in the duty of prayer." 

If an inward renewal is known by its effects, 
the tree by its fruit, the evidence of Samuel 
Hick's conversion to God is not less certain 
than if it had been less sudden. He had em- 
ployed the means, prayer and faith, instituted 
by God* himself for the attainment of his fa- 
vour — he experienced joy in the Holy Ghost 
through believing, having been made a partaker 
of " salvation;" and being " upheld with" God's 
"free Spirit," he immediately began, in primi- 
tive style, to " teach transgressors" the " ways" 
of righteousness, and a " sinner" was " con- 
verted" to the truth. The temper of mind which 
he manifested under opposition, his readiness 
to forgive, the constraining influence of the love 
which he felt, the persevering quality of the 



48 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

principle by which he was actuated, his joy 
over a sinner repenting, only to be compared 
with that possessed by angelic beings, all, all 
are indications of one of whom it might be said, 
" Old things are passed away : behold all things 
are become new." Add to this, every part of 
his personal history, from this time to the hour 
of his death, is confirmatory of Christian cha- 
racter. While a career of between forty and 
fifty years of Christian usefulness, connected 
with a strictly moral conduct, renders it impro- 
bable that he should, for such a length of time, 
impose upon others ; his views of his state and 
of his services, and his abhorrence of sin, 
authorize the belief that there was no deception 
practised upon himself. It was not a state of 
mere improved feeling, not tin whitewash of 
pharisaism ; the change entered the grain of 
the man, turning him inside out to others, to 
whom any thing in the shape of guile was invi- 
sible, and outside in upon himself, while he de- 
clared, from the internal and external evidence 
which a depraved nature and a previously sin- 
ful life had furnished, that he had been " as big 
a heathen as any of the natives of Ceylon," 
having " had gods many, and lords many ;" but 
that "the Lord, when he awakened" his "soul, 
enabled" him " to cut them off at a stroke." 
He reasoned not with flesh and blood ; he spared 
no Agag, he reserved no sin. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 49 



CHAPTER III. 

He seeks church fellowship— Advises with a pious clergy- 
man, with whom he meets in band — Unites himself, on the 
clergyman's leaving the neighbouihood, to the Wesleyan 
Methodists — The kind of preaching under which he profited 
— Society at Sturton Grange— A revival of religion — Two 
colliers rendered extensively useful — A solitary barn the re- 
sort of the devout — Samuel's distress on account of indwell- 
ing sin, and his deliverance from it — Singular occurrence — 
Deep distress compatible with a state of justification. 

Man, who was originally formed for society, 
and furnished with its felicities in paradise, 
carries with him into every climate, and into 
all circumstances, those elements which, when 
properly improved and directed, not only fit him 
for social life, but render him restless without 
it, as well as inspire him with a solicitude for 
its blessings. A few solitary hermitical and 
misanthropic exceptions, or an occasional wish 
for " wings like a dove," to " fly away" from 
its bustle, in order to " be at rest," are not to be 
adduced as arguments against the general prin- 
ciple ; for even among those who are most par- 
tial to retirement, who are least in love with the 
world of beings around them, and who, in oppo- 
sition to the designs of God in helping man by 
man, convert themselves into misers' treasure, a 
kind of moral and intellectual cash, hoarded up 
in the safe of a monastery or a nunnery, useless 
to such as are most in need of their aid, and 
whose wants might be essentially relieved by 
an expenditure of their time and of their talents; 
even among these the love of society is inhe- 
4 



50 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

rent, and is manifested by their institutions 
where groups are permitted to dwell and mingle 
with each other, if not as the coin itself, as the 
misers of Christianity. This love of society is 
not destroyed, but regulated and strengthened 
by religion ; and by no one is it more needed, 
or more ardently desired, than by a person 
newly "found in" Christ. The notion of 
" going to heaven alone," of preserving our 
religion a " secret" — which, by the way, be- 
longs only to those who have no religion to ex- 
hibit — is instantly annihilated on the reception 
of pardon. The charm of secrecy is broken, 
and why ? There is now " something to say" 
— subject matter for conversation. U A new 
song" is put into the " mouth," and it must be 
sung; a " morsel" has been received, and it 
cannot be eaten " alone." Nor is the wish to 
communicate confined barely to a person's en- 
trance on the divine life ; " it grows with his 
growth." " They that feared the Lord spake 
often one to another." 

Samuel, who was in danger of casting his 
"pearls before swine?' and who had confounded 
attempts at usefulness with " the communion of 
saints," was instinctively led to seek the latter 
from the nature of his own wants. " I was at 
a sad loss," says he, " for church fellowship, 
there being no society near." This " loss" 
could not allude to any privation of privilege, 
with the enjoyment of which he had been pre- 
viously favoured; for no such enjoyment had 
been known. The want was created with the 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 51 

character which he now sustained. It was the 
want of a child — himself being only a babe in 
Christ — looking for some one to guide and sup- 
port his steps ; the want of another regimen 
than that to which he had been accustomed — 
of other food for the support of a new life. His 
connection with the Methodists, as a hearer, 
whether occasional or constant, seems to have 
broken off with his servitude at Healaugh ; and 
no persons of that persuasion being near, a 
closer connection could not be immediately and 
conveniently renewed. Having been accus- 
tomed to attend the service of the Established 
Church, after his residence at Micklefield, he 
naturally looked to its members for communion. 
The light, however, which he had received, 
was sufficiently discriminative in its character 
to guide him to the right spot. Instead of 
" wending his way" tp Aberford, where he had 
distinguished himself as a chorister, he pro- 
ceeded with the infallibility of instinct to Led- 
sham, and with great simplicity solicited an in- 
terview with the resident clergyman. " I asked 
him," he remarks, " what I should do ; and he 
told me to call on him the next Lord's day 
morning, when he would advise with me." He 
accordingly repaired to the house at the time 
appointed, and was cordially received, as well 
as religiously instructed. Samuel's testimony 
of him — because the testimony of experience — is 
of more value, in an evangelical point of view, 
than the highest panegyric from the pen of a 
literary nominal professor of Christianity. It 



52 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

is the lisping of childhood, as yet unaccustomed 
to artifice. " He was a very good man, and 
preached the gospel. I went to Ledsham 
some time ; but he was at length obliged to 
leave, for his salary would not keep him. 
Then I was at a loss for my band-mate." The 
last expression, the full import of which can 
only be known and felt by persons enjoying the 
sweets of Christian fellowship, shows the ten- 
derness, the condescension, the solicitude, the 
sympathies of this ecclesiastic — the Village 
Patriarch stooping from his dignity, and tak- 
ing, as a band-mate, " sweet counsel with the 
Village Blacksmith ! * 

* Ledsham is the village, [in which stands the church] in 
which the late Rev. Walter Sellon, who was vicar of the 
parish, lived and died; and Ledstone Hall, at no great dis- 
tance from it, is the place where the renowned Lady Betty 
Hastings also resided, and finally resigned her soul into the 
hands of her God. The clergyman, of whom Samuel speaks, 
is supposed to have been Mr. Wightman, who was curate to 
Mr. Sellon ; the former a Calvinist, and the latter an Armin- 
ian in creed ; and though salary might have-its share of influ- 
ence in the question of removal, it is strongly suspected that 
doctrinal sentiments aided in turning the scale. Mr. Sellon 
was a sturdy supporter of the doctrine of general redemp- 
tion, and fought some hard battles in early life against the 
Calvinistic view of the subject, under the auspices of Mr. 
Wesley ; but toward the close of Mr. Wesley's pilgrimage, 
Mr. Sellon manifested a degree of coldness toward his old 
friend. In a manuscript correspondence of Mr. Wesley with 
Mr. Sellon, in the possession of the writer, it appears that 
the warmth of friendship began to subside when Mr. Sellon 
resided at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. From 1772 to 1784, there is 
a chasm in the correspondence. Up to the former period, 
Mr. Wesley's address was, " Dear Walter," with all the fa- 
miliarity of close friendship : but on Mr. Sellon's residence 
at Ledsham, at which place he lived during the latter period, 
the address was altered to " Dear Sir," one of the letters 
concluding with, "You used to meet me when I came near 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 53 

This was a gracious providence to Samuel, 
through which he was enabled, in the child- 
hood of his Christianity, to acquire strength ; 
and but for which he might have found it diffi- 
cult to walk alone. He had not long, however, 
to bemoan his bereavement. The Lord, on re- 
moving one stay, speedily supplied its place 
with another. It was with Samuel, therefore, 
as with the child, a change of nurses, rather 
than a privation, or even a serious suspension 
of the kindly offices requisite for the support 
and guidance of his weakness and inexperience. 
" The Lord," he observed, " sent Mr. Wade to 
Sturton Grange, where they took in the preach- 
ers, and had a society. As I felt my want of 
church fellowship, I went to ask them to take 
me into society. They offered to take me on 
trial ; and I continued a member till we got a 
society in our own place, which was not long, 
for I never let them alone." He had an ardent 
. desire for the salvation of sinners ; and his not 
letting them alone refers as much to his conver- 

you ; but yon seem of late years to have forgotten your old 
friend and brother, John Wesley." Among the manuscript 
letters referred to, are some curious epistolary specimens 
written by Mr. Charles Wesley to Mr. Sellon ; also some 
rare ones, addressed to the same person, from the Rev. 
Messrs. J. Fletcher, Vin. Perronet, E. Perronet, Sir Richard 
Hill, and the Countess of Huntingdon — all tending to throw- 
light on the controversies and passing events of the times— 
which another occasion may render it proper to present to 
the public. How long Mr. Sellon remained at Ledsham,the 
writer is unable at present to ascertain ; but it is probable, 
from the Wesleyan Meth. Mag. for 1818, p. 53, that he was 
either in the village or its immediate vicinity, in a state of 
great affliction, nf 1790 and 1791. 



54 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

sational efforts to reclaim his neighbours, as to 
any request that a portion of the privileges of 
the society to which he had united himself, 
which was little more than a mile distant, 
should be transferred to Micklefield. Thus, 
adverting to his situation to promote the reli- 
gious welfare of others, he remarks, " I had a 
good opportunity, as nearly the whole town 
came to my shop ; and I was always at them. 
I found my share of persecution ; but this did 
not daunt me, nor prevent me from calling on 
sinners to repent, believe, and be converted." 

It was not barely by reproof and exhortation 
that he sought to multiply the number of travel- 
lers to Zion, but also by earnest and affection- 
ate invitation. The first fruit of this description 
of labour — labour which has been extremely 
productive in a variety of instances — was a 
wealthy agriculturist. " Mr. Thomas Taylor," 
said he, " came to preach at Sturton Grange, and 
I invited all I could to go and hear him. One. 
of these was Mr. Rhodes,* a large farmer, who 
lived in the parish ; and who said if I would 
call upon him he would go with me. Blessed 
be the Lord! on the same night the gospel 
proved the power of God to his salvation. I 
remember the text ; it referred to the tares and 
the wheat. The tares were gathered and tied 

* In a letter from Mr. Dawson, dated April 3d, 1830, re- 
ferring to Mr. Rhodes, he observes, " He is still living at 
Micklefield. I saw him yesterday. He is nearly blind, and 
his constitution is fast breaking up. He will not survive 
Samuel long. The Methodists always preached, and still 
preach at his house." 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 55 

into bundles. There was a bundle of sabbath- 
breakers, a bundle of swearers, &c. These 
bundles were to be burned ; and before the ser- 
mon was finished, the preacher got Mr. Rhodes 
bound up in one of them. From that time the 
Lord added to our number ; we got preaching 
to our place, and soon had a class-meeting." 
This, it should seem, from a reference to the 
Minutes of Conference, was either in the year 
1785, or 1786, when Mr. Taylor was stationed 
in the Leeds circuit. Such preaching was as 
much calculated to instruct the uneducated 
mind of Samuel, as it was to arrest the atten- 
tion of the farmer. Keach would have been a 
superior preacher in his estimation to Saurin, 
and he would have profited more by the meta- 
phors of the one, than by the sermons of the other. 
He could fasten upon some of the more promi- 
nent parts of a highly figurative discourse, and 
turn them to good personal and practical ac- 
count ; but would have been in danger of run- 
ning wild with the remainder. He knew much 
better when to commence, than how to proceed, 
or where to close. 

But it was not in criticism that he was 
skilled ; nor was it into the niceties of Christian 
doctrine that he could enter. He knew the 
truth much better in its operation on the heart, 
than in its shinings on the understanding ; and 
could tell much better how it felt, than in what 
position and connection it stood. He seemed 
to possess the faculty in religion, which some 
blind people are said to possess, in a rare de- 



56 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

gree, in reference to colours ; a faculty of de- 
scribing it by the touch ; for scarcely any thing 
advanced amounted with him to truth, unless it 
fell with power upon his heart. He had re- 
ceived the doctrine of justification as an experi- 
mental truth, though utterly unable, in puritanic 
style, to enter into a detail of its moving, meri- 
torious, remote, immediate, and instrumental 
causes ; and this led to another doctrine equally 
momentous ; a doctrine of experience, no less 
than of theory ; the sanctification of the heart to 
God. " After he had enjoyed the blessing of 
conscious pardon," says Mr. Dawson, "he dis- 
covered that there was a higher state of grace 
to be attained ; that such state was purchased 
for him by the blood of Jesus Christ ; and was 
to be applied to his soul by the Holy Ghost, 
through faith. This he sought in the way 
which God appointed, and found the promise 
realized. ' Every one that asketh receiveth ; 
and he that seeketh fmdeth ; and to him that 
knocketh it shall be opened.' He was enabled 
to believe for a higher enjoyment of divine love, 
and from the hour he believed, obtained a richer 
measure of it, through which he was empow- 
ered to * rejoice evermore ; pray without ceas- 
ing ; in every thing give thanks.' " 

This farther change was wrought in his soul 
in the year 1794, and the following are some 
of the circumstances connected with its attain- 
ment. "About this time, (1794,)" he observes, 
" there was a great revival of the work of God 
at Sturton Grange, near Micklefield. The meet- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 57 

ings were held in Rig Lair* Some hundreds 
of souls were converted to God, and many were 
sanctified. I was one of the happy number, 
not only convinced of the necessity of Christian 
holiness, but who, blessed be the Lord ! proved 
for myself, that the blood of Christ cleanseth 
from sin." Mr. Dawson, in adverting to this 
extraordinary work of God, in connection with 
Samuel's progress in religion, states that " there 
was an extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit 
upon nearly the whole of Yorkshire, and that it 
was most remarkably felt in the neighbourhood 
of Micklefield. At a solitary barn," continues 
he, " which stands on a farm belonging to Mr. 
Wade, at Sturton, near the Roman road leading 
from Castleford to Aberford, a prayer meeting 
was held every Sunday morning and Monday 
evening. These meetings were especially 
owned of God. The glory of the Lord filled 
the place, and the power of God was present to 
wound and to heal, to kill and to make alive. 
Two colliers,! men who gave themselves to 
prayer, were very successful instruments in the 
hand of the Lord in the conversion of scores, 
if not hundreds of persons, in the course of the 
summer. Our late brother Hick took his full 
share in the work, and experienced a full share 

* Lair — a barn, in the west of Yorkshire. 

t One of these men was supported by the bounty of the late 
Mr. Broadhurst, of S win ton, for the sole purpose of enabling 
him to devote his time to the visitation of the sick, &c., and 
died lately at Manchester, where he had resided several 
years. His brother William, the other person alluded to, 
married a person belonging to Pollington, a village about 
three miles from Snaith, Yorkshire, where he continued 



58 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

of the glory. Sabbath after sabbath the bam 
was filled with people ; the cries of penitence 
were heard in different places, and were fre- 
quently succeeded by songs of praise. The 
colliers were invited to the neighbouring vil- 
lages, whither friend Hick accompanied them 
in their work of faith and labour of love. Often 
has he been heard to relate the conquests of 
redeeming love, as witnessed in these journeys, 
from which he frequently returned home re- 
joicing — rejoicing more than earthly conquerors 
when they find great spoil.*' 

Under the general influence referred to, 
Samuel was led, as stated above, to seek a far- 
ther work of grace. At the midnight hour he 
retired to this " barn" whose solitude was deep- 
ened by the season, for private devotion. He 
bowed the knee in one of its unfrequented nooks ; 
but before he had proceeded to offer a petition 
to God whom alone he supposed to be present, 
he heard the voice of prayer in an opposite 
corner. He paused ; he listened ; the shadows 
of night had fallen too thickly around to permit 
him to see any one. Unexpected as it was, it 
was the voice of melody to his ear : still he lis- 
tened, and at length he recognised the voice of 
Praying George, one of the colliers, who was 

useful as an exhorter and class-leader for a considerable 
length of time — ended his days in peace, about five years 
ago — and left a widow and two or three children. They 
received the appellation of the " Praying Colliers." The 
one who resided in Manchester, and who was personally 
known to the writer, was generally designated by the title 
of "Praying George." Their proper name — the one by 
which they were least known — was Mosely. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 59 

wrestling, like Jacob, repeating again and again, 
" Lord, wash my heart ; Lord, wash my heart ;" 
adding emphasis to each repetition — elevating 
his voice as he rose in fervour — but as little 
suspecting that he was heard by a fellow crea- 
ture, as Samuel did that he should find any 
one in the place at such an hour. He soon 
gave the response to George's prayer, who, in 
his turn, was surprised to find that Samuel had 
stolen into the place for the same purpose. 
They mingled their petitions and spirits to- 
gether, and increased each other's ardour. " I 
thought," said Samuel, " if the Lord could 
wash George's heart, he could also wash mine ; 
and I was fully convinced that if George's 
heart wanted washing, mine required it much 
more ; for I considered him far before me in 
divine grace." He proceeded from the very 
first on the principle, that " God is no respecter 
of persons" and that, from the immutability of 
his nature, the same power and goodness exer- 
cised in one case could, and really would, be exer- 
cised in another, where a compliance with the 
means proposed to attain the end was observed. 
He experienced much of the presence of 
God in prayer, but no satisfactory evidence of 
the blessing which he sought. Having in all 
probability remained in the same position for a 
great length of time, and having been earnest 
in his pleadings, he was so affected and en- 
feebled when he rose, that he was unable to 
stand erect, and was obliged, as he expressed 
himself, to " walk home almost double." On 



60 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

passing along one of the fields, he heard a sud- 
den and "mighty rush" over his head, as he 
termed it, the sound of which he compared to a 
large covey of " pigeons," sweeping the air 
with their wings. Being partially bent toward 
the ground, and the morning light not having 
dawned upon the earth, he was unable to per 
ceive any thing, had any appearance been vi- 
sible. He started — but all was gone in an 
instant. Having just come from the spot where 
he had been holding converse with God, and 
linked as he was in spirit to the invisible world, 
it was natural for him — whatever becomes of 
either the rationality or the Christianity of the 
act— to direct his thoughts thither ; and the 
sound had but just passed, when it occurred to 
him, " This is the prince of the power of the 
air." On reaching home, he named the cir- 
cumstance to his wife, who was still more 
struck with it, when, on having occasion to go 
into the fields some hours afterward to milk the 
cows, she heard the same noise as described 
by Samuel, but saw nothing from whence it 
could proceed.* 

Instead of retiring to rest, he spent the whole 
of the morning in private prayer : and such was 

* Though no anxiety is felt by the writer for his credit as 
an author, in giving publicity to this circumstance ; and 
though he has no particular wish to give a supernatural cha- 
racter to it, he would, nevertheless, lend an attentive ear to 
the solution of a few difficulties with which the subject is 
involved. The sound was heard by two persons at distinct 
periods ; no appearance was visible in either case ; the sound 
was like that of birds upon the wing : — the hour was unseason- 
able, in the first instance, for any birds to be abroad, except 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 61 

his distress— being, as he forcibly expressed 
himself. " under deep conviction for holiness," 
— that he could " neither eat, sleep, nor work." 
He continues, " I went mourning and pleading 
the whole of that day and of that night, but 
could find no rest to my soul. The next morn- 
ing, about eight o'clock, I knelt me down upon 
the same flag on which God had pardoned my 
sins : and while I was pleading his promises, 
faith sprung up in my heart ; I found that the 
blood of Christ did indeed cleanse me from all 
sin. I immediately leaped up from my knees. 
I seemed to have gotten both a new body and a 
new soul. The former appeared like cork 
wood, it was so light. I was clear in my sanc- 
tification. It w T as received by faith in Christ. 
All was joy, peace, and love. My soul was 
constantly mounting in a chariot of fire ; the 
world and the devil were under my feet." 

The martyrdom of spirit which Samuel expe- 
rienced on the death of the depravity of his na- 
ture, can only be understood by those who have 
suffered on the same rack ; and there are not a 
few who have suffered more because of indwell- 
ing sin, than under conviction of its enormity 
and punishment,- as was evidently the case with 

the owl ; — in the second instance the night-bird must have 
disappeared ; — and what might have been invisible to 
Samuel, through the darkness of the hour, ought to have 
been seen by his wife in the morning light ; — and on the sup- 
position that the imagination of the former might have been 
a little affected, still the case of the latter — a person of a 
much cooler temperament, and one who had not been pass- 
ing through the same nocturnal process — preserves the whole 
in its native force. 



62 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the subject of this memoir. It is not difficult to 
explain this, except to the " natural man," to 
whom every experimental subject is mysterious. 
But to the purely enlightened it is well known 
that the discipline experienced in the school of 
repentance, in which the " heavy-laden" sinner 
" labours" under an oppressive burden prior to 
his entering into " rest" — into that first or pre- 
paratory state of repose consequent on his justi- 
fication or discharge from guilt — is occasionally 
less severe than the discipline which is after- 
wards exercised in the school of Christ — into 
which school the penitent enters immediately 
on the reception of pardon, and in which, prior 
to his reception of what the poet styles " that 
second rest," he is taught to " learn* of Him who 
was " meek and lowly in heart," and while un- 
der his tuition, has, even in that state, to bend 
the neck of his spirit to the " yoke" which his 
divine Teacher imposes. Human nature is not 
made of sufficiently tractable materials — has 
been too long accustomed to an improper bias, 
to sit composed under the restraints of such a 
yoke, or instantly to yield to its forms. The 
workman called " the old man," is hostile to all 
the works of " the new man :" and will not su- 
pinely give up his possessions. On the justifi- 
cation of a sinner, peace, sweet peace, falls 
upon the soul with the softness of flakes of 
snow ; and to persons in an imaginative mood, 
it is as easy— barring the coldness of the meta- 
phor — to perceive the soul beautifully covered 
with it, and shining in its external whiteness : 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 63 

but in the sanctiflcation of the spirit, the work 
goes deeper than the soul's surface. And, to 
change the metaphor, it is not till after a per- 
son's justification, that God takes the lid from 
off the top of the sepulchre of the human heart, 
and unfolds to view its hidden filth — the be- 
holder, like an unamiable being looking at him- 
self in a mirror, being startled at his own ap- 
pearance. The pain experienced in both states, 
though severe, differs in its character, because 
produced by widely different causes. Actual 
transgression is the immediate cause of peniten- 
tial distress, and innate depravity that of a be- 
liever's grief- — the one finding relief in an act of 
pardoning mercy, and the other in a work of 
purifying grace ; or in other words, both in the 
death of Jesus Christ, through the merit of 
whose blood the guilt of sin is cancelled, and by 
the virtue of whose blood the pollution of the 
soul is cleansed; and the taint, if such an ex- 
pression may be allowed, is as painful and 
odious to the enlightened mind as is its guilt to 
the awakened conscience. To the woodman 
who wishes to eradicate, to have the ground 
perfectly clear, it is as mortifying to have the 
roots left in the earth, as to see the tree stand- 
ing ; and having cleft the one, he is the more 
solicitous to have the other plucked up, not 
only that he may not lose what he has already 
wrought, but that he may prevent its again 
shooting upward, and by farther growth pro- 
ducing still more pernicious fruit. While the 
misery of a penitent is to be found in the accu- 



64 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

sations of a guilty conscience, followed up by 
awful forebodings of " wrath to come," the be- 
liever's distress arises from a fear of falling — an 
inward abhorrence of every thing rising in the 
soul incompatible with unsullied purity — an 
anxious desire after a full conformity to the di- 
vine image — an exquisitely constituted con- 
science, which is as tender to the touch as the 
apple of the eye — the consciousness of still 
possessing a heart prone to wander from the 
living God, and of a nature upon which tempta- 
tion, without great watchfulness, may still ope- 
rate to the ruin of the soul — a keener insight 
into the spirituality of the sacred law — a quick- 
sightedness and frequent anticipations of danger 
— the whole working the mind into a state of 
earnestness and of agony to be " freed from the 
yoke of inbred sin." In the latter state there 
is no sense of guilt, nor consequently of the 
divine displeasure, and therefore no fear of 
punishment ; yet there is a continual loathing 
of self — " war in the members" — dying to live. 
All this appears to have been known and felt 
by Samuel Hick, whose own statement leads to 
the conclusion, that he suffered much more as 
a believer than as a penitent, through the union 
of which two characters the man of God is made 
perfect. 

After he had risen from his favourite " flag," 
for which he entertained a kind of superstitious 
respect, and which was now rendered " doubly 
dear," he walked forth some time in brightness. 
The blessing of purity, which he had received, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 65 

was never lost through actual transgression -, 
and although he was twice in a state of deep 
distress respecting its evidence, it was soon re- 
gained by the exercise of the same means, and 
an application to the same source through which 
it was first obtained. " He experienced it," 
says Mr. Dawson, " upwards of thirty years — 
lived and died in the full possession of its ex- 
cellences. O, with what warmth, affection, 
and pathos, he used to speak of his enjoying 
the perfect love of God in his heart ! — that love 
which casts out tormenting fear, and strongly 
and sweetly constrains the whole soul to en- 
gage in the whole will of God, as revealed in 
his word." This love expanded his naturally 
affectionate heart, and his bowels yearned for 
the salvation of his friends, his neighbours, and 
the world." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Samuel's public character — His call to speak in public — 
A dream — Reproves a clergyman — Assists in prayer meet- 
ings — Visits Howden and other places — A remarkable out- 
pouring of the Spirit of God — His power in prayer — Labours 
to be useful — Suits his language and thoughts to the employ- 
ment of persons addressed — A general plan laid down for 
the spread of religion in the villages of Garforth, Barwick, 
&c. — Samuel received as a regular local preacher — His 
person — Intellect — Influence — Peculiarities — Tenderness — 
Language — Style of preaching — An apology for his ministry. 

Two things have contributed essentially to 
the spread of Wesleyan Methodism : first, the 
5 



66 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

adaptation of its rules and regulations to every 
condition of man; and secondly, the provision 
which its rules have made for the encourage- 
ment and exercise of every description of talent. 
Having risen out of circumstances, it accommo- 
dates itself to that nature which is the same in 
every climate to which those circumstances 
belong ; and it can furnish employment for all, 
from the youth that lisps in prayer to the elo- 
quence of the pulpit — from the Village Black- 
smith to the man crowned with academical 
honours. The system, under God, brought into 
exercise the powers possessed by Samuel 
Hick, who has been heard to say, " I know 
that the Lord has given me one talent, and I am 
resolved to use it. He has given friend D. ten, 
but I am determined that he shall never run 
away with my one?' And to his honour it may 
be recorded, that he made his one go much 
further in real interest to the cause of God, than 
many with ten times the intellect and influence. 
He appears to have exercised occasionally 
in public, prior to the revival of the work of 
God at Sturton Grange. Mr. Dawson remarks, 
" that he first engaged in the prayer-meetings, 
and next spoke a word by way of exhortation. 
The last was done like himself, and always 
gained the attention of his hearers." Exclusive 
of a distinct impression upon his mind that it 
was his duty to call sinners to repentance, he 
was not a little influenced by a dream which 
he had, and to which he might be excused for 
paying the greater attention, as God employed 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 67 

a dream for the purpose of rousing him from 
spiritual slumber ; and more especially might 
he be excused, when revelation warrants the 
belief, that " in a dream, in a vision of the 
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in 
slumbers upon the bed ; then" God " openeth 
the ears of men and sealeth their instruc- 
tion." The substance of it was this : — He 
dreamed one night that he set sail to the West 
Indies in the character of a missionary, to 
preach the gospel to the poor negroes — that, on 
his landing, he saw a pulpit, the stairs of which 
he ascended — and, on unfolding the leaves of 
the Bible, which was laid before him, a perfect 
blank was presented to his eye. " A pretty 
thing this," said he to himself; " a Bible, and 
not a text in it !" He turned over the leaves 
again and again, and suddenly on one of the 
white pages several beautiful gold letters sprang 
into form, and dazzled his sight. The words 
were, " Prepare ye the way of the Lord," &c. 
These he announced as his text, and began to 
preach. In the course of the sermon a poor 
woman was so affected while intently listening 
to him, and gazing upon him, that she cried 
aloud for mercy. He instantly quitted the pul- 
pit, descended its steps, directed his way to the 
penitent, prayed with her, and soon had the 
unspeakable pleasure of hearing her proclaim 
the mercy of God in the forgiveness of her 
sins. From this pleasing dream he awoke ; 
and under its warmest impression, exclaimed to 
his wife, accosting her by name, " Matty, I be- 



68 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

lieve I am called to preach the gospel." Mar- 
tha, less awake to the subject than himself, 
requested him to go to sleep again, not a little 
infidel in her principles respecting it. 

This relation was given in his own way, on a 
platform, at the first Wesley an missionary 
meeting held at Selby, November 16th, 1814, 
before a crowded audience, when the writer of 
this memoir was present, together with Mr. 
Dawson and others, and for the first time was 
favoured with the sight of Samuel. The de- 
scription of the vessel in which he made his 
voyage, which is too ludicrous to appear among 
graver associations — his suddenly turning to the 
pulpit, and pointing to it as a model of the one 
in which he supposed himself to have preached 
— the familiarity of some of his comparisons, 
his views rising no higher, in reference to the 
gold characters, from his days having been 
spent mostly in the country, than some of the 
more costly sign-boards of the tradesman — his 
grotesque figure, and still more characteristic 
action, for the latter of which he was not a little 
indebted to his trade, his arms being stretched 
out, with his hands locked in each other, while 
he elevated and lowered theni, as though he 
had been engaged at the anvil ; varying in his 
movements as he rose in zeal and quickened in 
delivery, becoming more and more emphatic — 
his tears — his smiles — his tenderness — his sim- 
plicity — the adroitness with which he turned 
upon the text, the effects of the sermon, &c. to 
strengthen his call to the work — the manner 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 69 

in which he brought the subject to bear upon 
the object of the meeting — and his offering 
himself in the fulness ef his spirit at the close 
as a missionary, telling the people that his 
" heart was good," his " health was good," and 
his " appetite was good ;" that he wanted not 
their money, but would bear his own expenses ; 
and that, sustaining his own burden, he should 
consider it, provided family connections would 
admit, the highest honour that could be con- 
ferred upon him ; — the whole, in short, pro- 
ducing, both upon the platform and among the 
people, an effect rarely witnessed, and a scene 
calculated to move on with the memory, and 
live as a distinct picture in the imagination. 

That he had other and more substantial 
proofs of his call to exercise in public, there is 
no question ; but the above shows the peculiar 
cast of his mind, and his attention to what was 
passing within, whether asleep or awake, to- 
gether with his readiness to convert every thing 
to pious purposes — manifesting, in innumerable 
instances, stronger evidences of piety than of 
judgment. 

He regularly attended Micklefield chapel-of- 
ease, in which service was performed about 
this time, once a fortnight on the Lord's day, 

by the Rev. T., of Monkfryson, a village 

about five miles distant. Mr. T. had ten shil- 
lings and sixpence per day allowed him for his 
labour; but neither exhibiting the morality of 
the gospel in his life, nor preaching its doc- 
trines in the pulpit, — denying the inspiration of 



70 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the Spirit in his sermon, after the people had 
been praying for it in the liturgy, Samuel took 
the liberty of addressing*him on the subject one 
day, as he was passing his door on his way to 
Fryson. " Sir," said he, " I must tell you that 
you do not preach the gospel. You say that 
there has been no such thing as inspiration 
since the apostles' days. Your sermon contra- 
dicts your prayers ; and I know by experience 
that there is such a thing as inspiration." He 
added, " I have been praying to my Lord either 
to convert you, that you may preach the truth, 
or that he would send some one else to preach 
it ; and I fully believe that he will not let you 
come here much longer." Mr. T. said little in 
reply : and though Samuel's rebuke might be 
deemed a compound of ignorance and of impu- 
dence, by those who knew him least, yet such 
was the event, that Mr. T. only preached in 
Micklefi^ld church chapel two or three times 
afterward, and an evangelical clergyman sup- 
plied for some time his place. The fact is 
simply stated ; every reader may select and 
enjoy his own inference ; but place Samuel's 
prayer out of the question, his fidelity — and this 
is the chief design of the relation — is of more 
real value in the illustration of character, than 
any conjecture as to the cause of the change. 
In the earlier part of his public history, to 
which it is proper to return, an extensive field 
of usefulness was laid before him, in the line 
which Providence apparently marked out for the 
" Praying Colliers," with whose labours his 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITM. 71 

own were soon identified. Wherever he went 
he was popular and useful ; but his popularity- 
was rather the result of singularity, than drawn 
upon him by any peculiar display of pulpit 
talent ; while his usefulness was chiefly among 
those of his own order — though he was highly 
respected by his superiors in talent and in pro- 
perty. Not being as yet, however, a regularly 
accredited local preacher, remarks on his men- 
tal powers, and the character and style of his 
public addresses, must be reserved for the pe- 
riod when he was fairly brought upon the local 
preachers' plan. 

One of his earliest public excursions was 
into the Hull circuit, whither he was invited in 
company with the " Colliers," and from the 
outskirts of which no less than seven horses 
were sent to carry them and their colleagues to 
the first scene of labour — Spaldington Out- 
side, where they were met by the Rev. James 
Wood, the superintendent : — a pilgrimage this, 
which, while it might have furnished Chaucer 
with an episode for his " Canterbury Tales," 
would have greatly enhanced their devotional 
character. Samuel was in the full enjoyment 
of the heaven which the witness of his sanctifi- 
cation had imparted, and was ready to conclude, 
as he observed, that " the enemy of souls was 
dead, because" he himself " was dead to sin ;" 
but he found that he was only entering the field 
of battle; rejoicing meanwhile that he "was 
provided with the whole armour of God." 

Mr. Wood, whose judgment, gravity, and ex- 



72 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

perience, would operate as a suitable check to 
the ebulliency of spirit of these revivalists, ac- 
companied them to several places. Howden 
was the first place at which an extraordinary 
influence of the Holy Spirit was manifested ; 
and was especially felt in a prayer-meeting, in 
the awakening of sinners, many of whom, 
Samuel observed, " cried out like the slain in 
battle." Several of the old members, offended 
with the noise, left the chapel. " They could 
not stand this," said Samuel ; adding in his pe- 
culiar turn of thought, " It was a mercy they 
went out ; for it rid the place of a deal of unbe- 
lief, which they took away with them." Pre- 
viously to leaving the chapel himself, he had a 
rencounter with one of his own trade, a genuine 
son of Vulcan, who might have been drawn to 
the spot from what he had heard of the Village 
Blacksmith. Samuel was pressing home, by 
personal appeal, the subject of experimental 
religion upon an old man, when the person re- 
ferred to came up to him, and requested him to 
let the old man alone, declaring him to be ex- 
ceeded by no one in the town for honesty, and 
affirming his belief that he would go to heaven 
when he died. Samuel brought him to the test 
of " sin forgiven ;" stating, if he knew not this, 
he doubted of his safety. His opponent imme- 
diately fired, telling him, if he said so again, he 
would " fell" him. This was language which 
Samuel would not have brooked on the day he 
heard Mr. Burdsall, at York, without the metal 
of his own temper being heated to the same 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 73 

temperature with that of the person who stood 
before him ; but he was now another man, and 
fought with other weapons. m He replied with un- 
daunted brow, " I have no fear of that : if you lift 
your hand up, I believe you will not get it down 
again." So saying, he dropped upon his knees, 
and began to pray for the man, who, apparently 
afraid lest the prayer should turn upon judgment 
rather than mercy ^ made a precipitate flight. 

After the service was closed, he went to the 
house of Mr. Ward, a local preacher, where he 
was invited to spend the night. The good lady 
of the house, being of the Baptist persuasion, 
was less prepared than her husband for the 
feverish agitation attendant on some of the 
prayer-meetings, and, agreeably to her own 
views, lectured Samuel on the subject, declaring 
that he and his associates were destroying the 
work of God, and that they had made the house 
of God a house of confusion ; warmly recom- 
mending decency and order. " Confusion !" 
he exclaimed ; " I believe there was such con- 
fusion, and great confusion, too, on the day of 
penteeost." But it was not for him to stand 
and reason the case with his hostess, however 
competent to the task; he therefore adopted 
his " short and easy method" of settling dis- 
putes, by going to prayer; "for I -thought," 
said he, " she and I should agree best upon our 
knees." He there poured forth his petitions 
with great simplicity and fervour for her and 
for the family. When he arose, she affection- 
ately toot him by the hand, which to him was 



74 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the riglit hand of fellowship. On finding 
another spirit in her, he told her, that in most 
revivals of religion " three sorts of work" might 
be recognised — " the work of God, the work of 
man, and the work of the devil ;" stating, that 
when the latter two were destroyed, the first 
would stand ; and that we should be careful 
not to injure the one in suppressing the other. 
The good lady was so completely overcome by 
the sincerity and simplicity of his intentions, 
his spirit, and his manners, that she made it her 
study to render his stay as agreeable as possi- 
ble, by heaping upon him every social comfort. 
His mode of conducting a discussion, or more 
properly of terminating one, was the best adapted 
to his own case, and might be safely recom- 
mended in nine instances out of every ten, 
where the best side of a question is entertained 
with the worst arguments for its support ; for 
certainly a question is not to be decided by the 
merits of the person who takes it up ; and the 
best of causes may have the feeblest advocates. 
The next day the party went to Spaldington 
Outside, at which place a gentleman of the 
name of Bell at present resides ; and such was 
the concourse of people collected together from 
neighbouring and distant parts, that no building 
could be 'found sufficiently large to accommo- 
date them. The horses of those that rode were 
tied to the gates and hedges, — giving the dis- 
tant appearance of a troop of cavalry, and the 
company divided themselves into two distinct 
bands, and occupied two large barns. In the 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 75 

barn originally intended for the meeting, a tem- 
porary platform was erected for the accommo- 
dation of the prayer-leaders, exhorters, and 
more respectable portion of the female part of 
the auditory. The latter, in the estimation of 
Samuel, were mere spectators of the work of 
God upon others. The influence, however, 
becoming more general, one of these, under 
deep awakenings of soul, cried aloud for mercy; 
and as though determined to be avenged of her 
besetting sin, her love of finery, she made a 
sacrifice of part of her adornings upon the spot, 
by throwing them among the poorer people be- 
low. With the exception of two or three extra- 
vagances — the absence of which had been 
more remarkable than their manifestation, and 
which are subjects of forbearance rather than 
approval under all such circumstances — the 
meeting was attended with great good. 

From this place they proceeded to Newport, 
where several persons were convinced of sin, 
and others found peace with God ; the service 
continued till midnight : Mr. James Wood con- 
ducted the meeting, which was distinguished 
by great decorum. Instead of going to Hull the 
succeeding day, as previously arranged, Samuel 
was obliged to return home. But it was of no 
importance where he was : on the road, in his 
shop, in the field, he was ceaseless in his at- 
tempts to benefit those who came in his way. 

Journeying homeward, he saw a young man 
sowing seed in a field, whom he accosted in 
his usually abrupt, yet affectionate manner ; — 



76 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

" You seem in earnest. Have you had time to 
water your seed ?" " No," returned the sower ; 
" we never water this kind of seed : it is wheat, 
not rye, that we steep, and sprinkle with lime." 
Samuel had another object in view, and said, 
" That is not what I want to be at : have you 
been on your knees this morning, praying to 
God to give his blessing to the seed ?" This 
instantly brought the charge of Methodism upon 
him. " O, you are a Methodist ! If you had 
been at our church yesterday, you would have 
heard our parson give them their character." 
" You had a poor errand there," was the reply : 
" if the Methodists are wrong, you ought to 
pray for them to be set right." It was in this 
way that he was constantly scattering seed — 
not always skilfully, yet often seasonably; for 
there were many instances of its falling into 
"good ground." 

He did not always escape with the same 
triumphant feeling as that with which he with- 
drew from the sower just noticed, in his at- 
tempts at usefulness. Though his knowledge 
was limited within very narrow bounds, yet, as 
far as it extended, his sense of propriety always 
led him to delight in seeing any employment 
attended to in a workmanlike manner. On 
another occasion he perceived a youth turning 
up a piece of land with the plough. His pa- 
tience, which was occasionally one of his most 
vulnerable parts, being a little touched with the 
carelessness and awkwardness of the lad, he 
shouted out, as he paused a moment to look at 



"BttE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 77 

him, " How dare you attempt to plough my 
Lord's land in that way ?" proceeding to give 
some directions, when he was stopped short by 
him, — thus showing not only his quickness in 
comprehending Samuel's allusion to the Divine 
Proprietor, but his smartness in so promptly 
meeting him in his own character, — " I am 
turning up a bowling-green for the devil :" inti- 
mating as much as though any thing done, and 
in any way, was good enough for the purpose 
to which the ground was to be devoted. This 
was so much relished by Samuel, that the no- 
tions of agricultural propriety which were flut- 
tering in his imagination, and to which he was 
about to give utterance, broke up like a congre- 
gation of swallows in autumn — took instant 
flight, only to return with the appearance of the 
plough in the course of the ensuing spring ; as 
also did all the moral lessons which he intended 
to found on the employment in which the lad 
was engaged. 

Another field of labour opened to him after 
this period, more regular and permanent in its 
character, and much more accommodating to 
his circumstances. "About the year, 1797," 
says Mr. Dawson, " a plan was laid down to en- 
gage the talents of all the prayer-leaders and 
exporters in the villages of Garforth, Barwick, 
Kippax, and Micklefield, together with other 
places in the vicinity ; all of whom were to be 
united, and to itinerate through the whole 
neighbourhood. Brother Hick very readily 
agreed to have his name entered upon the plan. 



78 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

and having a horse at command, he could go to 
the most distant places without difficulty. He 
attended promptly and conscientiously to his 
appointments, so long as the union existed ; 
and it was this plan that brought him to the 
notice of many persons who otherwise would 
not have been acquainted with him, and laid the 
foundation of his future and more widely ex- 
tended usefulness. After this, his name was 
placed upon the regular local preachers' plan, 
of the Pontefract circuit, the places of which he 
supplied with pleasure to himself and profit to 
the people, to whom he recommended the per- 
son and salvation of Jesus Christ. When 
Micklefield was taken into the Selby circuit, his 
name was inserted in the plan of the local 
preachers belonging to that circuit ; but resid- 
ing on the borders of the Selby and Pontefract 
circuits, his name stood on both plans. "* In 
reference to the last particular, Mr. Dawson 
proceeds, " I remember calling upon him one 
day, when he observed that his time was pretty 
well filled up, saying, ' You see I have my 
name upon both Pontefract and Selby plans ;' 
emphatically adding, ' there is no living with 
half work.''" It was his " meat and his drink" 

* This was considerably subsequent to the period of 1797, 
when the general plan was made, which associated the 
prayer-leaders with the exhorters. One of Samuel's con- 
temporaries thinks it was not till 1803 that he was regularly 
admitted on the plan, though he had addressed public assem- 
blies from the time stated as above. Prior to the year 1807, 
the plans of the Pontefract circuit were written ; after that, 
they were printed. Selby became the head of a circuit in 
1812. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 79 

like Him " who went about doing good," to do 
the will of his Father ; and in the execution of 
that will he alone could live. 

The first time he ventured to take a text 
was in a school-room in Aberford, his native 
place ; and it was the one with which he was 
dazzled in his dream. The room was crowd- 
ed ; and it is probable that the success of this, 
and a few similar attempts, might have led the 
way for the insertion of his name on the plan 
among " exhorters." That the attempt was 
prior to such insertion, is likely from the fact 
of the person belonging to the school-room 
having joined Mr. Kilham's adherents soon 
after the division, on the event of which there 
would be but little disposition to grant the loan 
of the place, owing to the state of party feeling 
which was then at the highest point of eleva- 
tion. He had large congregations in those 
days ; and when he had no regular appoint- 
ment, he very often, in company with his 
friend William Brandfoot, travelled from ten to 
fifteen miles to a love-feast ; — an example, by 
the way, which is not much to be commended, 
and which becomes criminal — though far from 
the case with Samuel — when persons give the 
preference to a love-feast in the country to the 
sacrament of the Lord's supper in the town, and 
nearly at their own door. Being now fairly be- 
fore the public, it is desirable that a distinct 
image of the man should be put into the posses- 
sion of the reader, that he may have a more 
correct conception of the personage with whom 



80 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

he passes along, instead of being in the pre- 
sence of a kind of invisible agent, with whom 
he is permitted to converse in the dark, till the 
writer, in the usual biographical mode, and as 
though his pen had been previously employed 
on some other person, is pleased to unveil his 
subject at the close of his work in the exhibition 
of a summary sketch of his character. The 
subject of this memoir may be considered at 
this period as possessing that which, in the ge- 
neral acceptation of the term, properly consti- 
tutes character, and that too perfectly distinct in 
itself. Instead, therefore, of throwing the mind 
of the reader back, at the close of the book, 
upon that which has grown out of character, and 
not character from it, he must carry forward 
with him a distinct recollection of the man, 
through which he will be the better prepared 
for all that may follow, as well as judge of the 
likeness given — the one proceeding from the 
other like the tree from the root, the bough 
from the stem, and the fruit from the minor 
branches ; just as character gives rise to cir- 
cumstances, and circumstances become the 
medium through which the tempers of the mind 
and dispositions of the heart are manifested, 
unfolding themselves to others, either as whole- 
some or pernicious fruit. 

There was but little that might be deemed 
prepossessing in his person. He was tall and 
bony, rising to the height of about six feet. 
Hard labour, and the nature of his employment 
— lowering one arm with the iron, and raising 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 81 

the other with the hammer, while he stooped 
at the anvil — gave a roundness to the upper 
part of his back, and a slight elevation to his 
right shoulder. His hair was naturally light — 
his complexion fair — his face full, but more in- 
clined to the oval than the round — and his ge- 
neral features small, with a soft, quick, blue 
gray, twinkling eye, partaking of the character 
of his mind, twinkling in thought, and sending 
out occasional and inexpressible natural beau- 
ties, like streaks of sunshine between other- 
wise darkly rolling clouds. 
. His mind was peculiarly constructed, and had 
all the effect in preaching and in conversation 
of an intellect broken into fragments — not shi- 
ning forth as a whole, like the sun diffusing 
light and day ; but the scattered portions shi- 
ning separately, like stars in the heavens ; and 
these too not silently and slowly stealing out, 
one by one, but suddenly breaking upon the eye 
in numbers, and from unexpected quarters, some 
of them but indistinctly visible, and others as 
lovely as Venus in all her glory. He appeared 
utterly incapable of classifying his thoughts ;* 

* In the more lengthened extracts given from his papers, 
the writer has occasionally taken the liberty of transposing 
some of the thoughts, for the sake of preserving something 
like unity and order ; attending at the same time, with the 
strictest scrupulosity, to the sense intended to be conveyed 
to the reader. Samuel was not altogether ignorant of the 
character and extent of his intellectual powers, any more 
than of his moral condition. Speaking of him to Dr. A. 
Clarke once, the writer found that Samuel had visited him 
at his residence, Haydon Hall, near Pinner, Middlesex, in 
the neighbourhood of which the doctor sent him to conduct a 
religious meeting, with a view to communicate, under God, 

6 



82 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

and it is doubted by the writer, whether any 
mode of mental discipline which could have 
been adopted, even in youth, would have re- 
duced his then comparatively chaotic mind to 
order; and equally doubtful, whether any so- 
ciety, with such a peculiarly constructed mind, 
would have given ease, and grace, and polish 
to his manners. Yet rude, or, perhaps, more 
properly un wieldly, as were the latter, there 
was nothing to offend ; for while persons in the 
middle ranks of life were not at a sufficient 
remove from him to form a contrast, those in 
the higher walks of society were instantly ar- 
rested by an undeflnable something about him 
which taught them, that that which might not 
comport with good taste, was, nevertheless, that 
which ought to be borne, and by an impression 
in his favour, which would instantly compel every 
high-wrought feeling, and all etiquette, to bow 

a quickening influence to the people, for which, as an in- 
strument, he was tolerably calculated. The doctor had met 
with him at Bristol, in Yorkshire, prior to this period ; and 
related with a degree of pleasantry — for it was impossible 
for the most grave to relate some of his conversations with- 
out a slight contortion of the facial nerve — his first interview 
with him. Samuel, with his usual openness and simplicity, 
covered with smiles, stepped quickly up to the doctor, shook 
hands w r ith him, and after a few words, artlessly proceeded 
thus : — " You can get through with preaching better than 
me : 1 cannot bear to be disturbed : I have but one idea, you 
see : and if I lose that, why, I have then no more to go to : 
but you, sir, you have a many ideas ; so that if you were to 
lose one, you could pick up another by the way, and go on 
with it." By "one idea" he meant the leading thought on 
which he intended to dwe 1. While the relation assists 
in the illustration of intelle< tual character, it shows also the 
desolation which sometimes appeared to himself, occasioned 
by a want of reading, when he turned his eye inward. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 83 

before the untutored blacksmith — entering, be- 
fore he was long in their presence, into the real 
enjoyment of his society and conversation, and 
delightfully embracing opportunities for again 
holding converse with him. To persons in the 
polished circles it was a relief to the mind to be 
with him — one of those novel scenes but oc- 
casionally met with in the landscape of life. 
Instead of the dull, monotonous plain, whose 
richest garb becomes common-place by con- 
stantly gazing upon it, in Samuel it was like 
broken rocks, wood and water ; a piece of moor 
land, with patches of rich soil beneath the 
heath, with here and there a flower of surpris- 
ing beauty springing up in the midst of the wil- 
derness scene ; the whole contributing to show 
the effect of grace upon nature — and a nature too 
which, without that grace, could never have 
been subdued into any thing like decorum or 
sobriety. This might appear to some, and may 
not improbably be subjected to the charge, as 
partaking a little too much of the pencil and 
colouring of the artist ; as permitting, in the 
real character of romance, the imagination to be 
let loose upon a subject which ought to command 
the graver exercise of reason. The fact is — 
for not any thing shall be permitted to operate 
to the suppression of truth, and the Christianity 
of the case has nothing to fear in the way of 
consequence — the fact is, that such a man, and 
such a life might — and it is penned with re- 
verence — might, without the aid of imagination, 
without any art or exaggeration, form the ground- 



84 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

work of a lighter exhibition, say — a farce, to 
the awfully solemn, and splendid representation 
of the Christian religion. But then, religion 
had nothing to do in the construction of the 
man's mind — a mind more nearly allied to the 
comic than the tragic, in its operations, and 
whose effects, though perfectly undesigned on 
the part of the actor, laid a more powerful hold 
upon the lighter than the graver feelings. 
Christianity took the man as it found him, and 
performed upon him its grand work, which is 
not to change the construction of the mind so 
much as its nature ; to effect, in other words, 
its illumination and renovation : nor is it re- 
quisite, to compare temporal things with spi- 
ritual, in cleansing a building, to change the 
position of either a door or a window. The 
grace of God was observed to lay a strong hand 
upon an otherwise untractable nature — making 
light shine into darkness, as well as out of it — 
straightening the crookedness of fallen hu- 
manity — planting flowers where nothing but the 
rankest weeds would have grown — forcing by 
an irresistible power, an untaught, and, in some 
respects, though not in the strongest sense, an 
uncouth being — upon society, and compelling 
the wisdom, the wealth, the dignity of this 
world to bow before that being — one, who, 
without the grace of God, would have been in 
danger of being despised, and yet the despisers, 
through that grace, acknowledging the power 
of the Supreme in a thing of naught. 

This is not a subject slightly M he dismissed. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 85 

Samuel Hick was untaught in the school of 
this world ; art would have been lost upon him ; 
he was one upon whom education and polished 
society, as already hinted, could never have 
had their full effect; he seemed formed by na- 
ture, as well as designed by Providence, for the 
forge ; and not any thing short of the grace of 
God appears to have been capable of construct- 
ing more than a blacksmith out of the materials 
of which he was composed. It was never in- 
tended that the hand of a Phidias should work 
upon him. Such was the peculiar vein, though 
excellent in itself, that it would never have 
paid for the labour. No man with greater self- 
appropriation — not even the apostle himself— 
could exclaim, " By the grace of God I am 
what I am ;" or with the poet, " O, to grace how 
great a debtor !" 

Not any thing, however, that has been ad- 
vanced on his mental endowments and capa- 
bilities, and as applicable to him as a fallen 
being, in common with others of the same 
species, is intended in the least to deny him 
the credit of possessing great openness of dis- 
position, and unbounded generosity. The latter 
was expressed, not always gracefully but ho- 
nestly and warmly ; and like the sea-anemone, 
which feels the first returning wave upon the 
rock, and throws out all its tendrils, his tender 
nature would give forth all its sympathies on 
the slightest intimation of human wo. United 
to uncommon tenderness of heart, there was a 
sincerity and a simplicity which no one could 



86 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

resist, which linked him to every* spirit he 
came near, and which, while his own yearn- 
ings led him to weep over distress, to seek it 
out in all its haunts, and to relieve it to the 
leaving of himself pennyless, ever secured to 
him fellow-helpers in any projected work of 
benevolence. And yet, with his own bowels 
of compassion thus yearning over human misery 
— misery both of body and of mind — his eyes 
suffused with tears, and his face beaming with 
patriarchal benevolence, melting the hearts of 
those that stood before him, who mingled their 
tears with his — it was impossible — such were 
the outbreakings of intellect, such the sudden 
transitions of thought, such his similes for illus- 
tration, such his peculiar mode of expression, 
his half-solemn, half-comic, or undesignedly 
ludicrous representations — it was impossible to 
suppress the smile ; and smiles would have 
been actually flickering, like patches of light, 
over the same face down which the big gushing 
tears were seen chasing each other in rapid 
succession. Before a few seconds h'ad elapsed, 
all smiles had subsided, and the listener was 
left almost angry with himself for indulging in 
them, when he was aware that the speaker 
never intended them to appear in company with 
tears on such occasion and on such a subject ; 
and still larger tears would start — the auditor 
employed in wiping them away with his pocket- 
handkerchief. 

In preaching, as in conversation, he was never 
at " one stay," in reference to subject ; but ever 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 87 

and anon there were fine strokes of wit, touches 
of keen repartee in his addresses to sinners, and 
occasional beautiful illustrations of Scripture, 
turning often upon a single thought capable of 
furnishing hints for superior minds and better 
thinking, not only by being themselves im- 
proved in the laboratory of the brain, but by 
leading to another and still nobler train of 
thought, which might ultimately enrich the in- 
dividual, and which — except for having thus 
been struck out by Samuel, like a spark from 
his own anvil — would never have been elicited 
by long and previous study. In this way in- 
ferior minds often become steps by which su- 
perior intellects attain a higher character of 
thought. To the uninstructed and depressed, 
his preaching was especially adapted; and by 
bringing a great deal of what was familiar to 
the lower orders of society into his addresses, 
he was extensively useful in encouraging and 
raising the minds of the humble poor, who could 
indulge with a relish in such food as he had to 
give, without satiety ; when more costly and 
highly decorated dishes would have been much 
less savoury* Not a few of his strokes in the 
pulpit were as sudden as those which were 
manifested in his regular calling, when sparks 
as profusely seemed to fly all around, warming 
and enlightening, and bidding the profanely 
heedless stand out of the way. 

His language in the pulpit was the same as 
in social life — the broadest, and yet, as has 
been already intimated, most closely abbreviated 



88 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

West Yorkshire dialect; the former giving a 
fulness and quaintness to many of his intellect- 
ual clothings ; and the latter operating, to em- 
ploy a homely simile, like a pair of scissors in 
the organs of speech, clipping a piece from off 
each word, and not unfrequently from the same 
word at both ends.* This to a Yorkshireman, 

* The writer had it once in contemplation to give the 
whole of Samuel's remarks in the dialect in which he spoke. 
But though this would have given greater prominence to his 
character, it might have diminished the effect which it was 
otherwise desirable to produce. Nor is it necessary for 
purposes of accuracy to give a man's pronunciation in the 
words he employs. Fidelity in such a case would be as absurd 
as unnecessary, since it would require every piece of biogra- 
phy to vary according to its subject, from the peer to the 
peasant. An ingenious apology therefore might be framed 
for honest Samuel, from either Walker's or any other Pro- 
nouncing Dictionary, in which the eye and the ear are almost 
perpetually at variance with each other, in the difference 
which subsists between the spelling and the pronunciation of 
the same word ; and also in the fluctuations in the same 
language among the same people, at different periods of time. 
A few words from the vocabulary of the deceased, which 
the reader will find in a Glossary at the front of the volume, 
as exemplified in his papers, drawn from his conversations, 
&c, will furnish a correct conception of his language, and 
will support a remark made in a preceding ^age. As the 
language cannot operate as a reflection against Samuel in 
any other way than that in which the whole of the lower 
grades in society in the west of Yorkshire are participators ; 
and as the inhabitants of different portions of the island are 
not exempt from conversational peculiarities and provincial- 
isms, one county or district is as much entitled to the laugh 
as the other, and also forbearance. The following specimen 
of the English language, in a letter of Robert Waterton, to 
King Henry V., 1420, dated from Methley, where the king 
had his lodge, and where Samuel, some centuries afterward, 
moved, conversed, and, in a few instances, entrenched on 
the very same pronunciation with the worthy letter-writer, 
will be a curiosity to some readers : — 

u Os [as] I have conceyvid by zour right honourable lettres 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 89 

and particularly one of the least educated, gave 
Samuel an advantage over many of his bre- 
thren — he always appearing to such a one like 
an instrument in tune : but to another than a 
Yorkshire ear, the instrument often gave an 
" uncertain sound," the sense being to be ga- 
thered, not from detached parts, but from the 
whole; and as his speech was rather rapid, his 
preaching, to persons unacquainted with his 
provincialisms and pronunciation, had the effect 
of a broken English from the lips of a foreigner, 
where attention is constantly kept up, in order 
to come at the sense of the speaker, and where 
the interest continues to heighten in proportion 
as we are let into the meaning of what is heard. 
To keep perfectly grave through one of his 
pulpit addresses was extremely difficult : yet 
the most grave found it impossible to be angry, 

wrytin at zour Cytee, the which I have receyvid right late 
syth Pask [Easter] wyth othir zour lettres undir zour Pryve 
Seale, charging me to assaye by all the menese [means] 
that I kan to exyte and stirre sych as bene able gentilmen 
wythin the shyre and the contree, that I dwell in, to kome 

{come] ovyr to zowe at zour Wage, armyd and wrayde as 
angys [belongs] to tnaire astate, to do zowe servyce, and 
for to certifie als well to zowe os to zour Counsell of tnaire 
answere and thaire will, the whych zour hegh comaunde- 
ment I have bygune to labour apon and sail trewely forthe 
[further] dayly wyth all my myght till I have perfourmd zour 
forsayd comaun^ement. And upon Wedynsdaye next sail 
zour Justice sitte at Zork [York] apon the deliverance of 
the Gaole there and a Cession of the Pees [Peace] also, at 
which tyme I suppose to speke with many of the gentyls 
there, and als sone aftyr as I maye be answered I sail cer- 
tifie os zowe hase lykid to comaunde me, wyth all the 
haste, &c. Writin at zour awne logge at Metheleye the xii 
daye of Aprill zour trewe leige man and subgitte, &c.' 
See Ellis's Original Letters, vol. i, p. G. 



90 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

because they saw at once there was no design 
to produce a smile on the part of the speaker, 
and that he seemed unconscious of its presence 
while there. It resolved itself into a peculiarity 
rather than a fault — an imperfection in the me- 
dium of communication, rather than a sin, in 
the first instance, in the man ; and hence the 
line of forbearance — forgiveness being uncalled 
for — ran parallel with the failing or infirmity. 

To advocate, in unqualified terms of approba- 
tion, the establishment of such a style of preach- 
ing, would argue as little taste, judgment, skill 
in Christianity, and knowledge of human na- 
ture, as it would, in another view of the subject, 
have been criminal to deny such a man oppor- 
tunities of usefulness, since numbers might have 
remained unbenefited to the same extent by more 
highly polished instruments. The Divine Being, 
who found a place in the Old Testament church 
for the employment of one of the herdmen of 
Tekoa, and in the New, for a fisherman of 
Galilee, and a tentmaker of Tarsus,* has 

* The writer is aware that it was customary for the 
higher ranks in society among the Jews, as well as the poor, 
to teach their children a trade ; it being a maxim among 
them, that " he who teaches not his son a trade teaches him 
to be a thief," and that one of the Jewish rabbies was sur- 
named the Shoemaker, another the Baker, tf-c. : nor is he 
less aware that it constituted a part of the education of 
others of the easterns, and was practised down to the time 
of Sir Paul Ricaut ; the grand seignior, to whom he was 
ambassador, having been taught to make wooden spoons-^* 
taught not only as an amusement, but as necessary to sup- 
port life under adverse circumstances, on any unexpected 
change of fortune : and may be told from hence, that the 
mechanical arts thus connecting themselves, not only with 
rank, but with the literature of the times, ought not to be ad- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 91 

certainly not altered the constitution of his 
church so seriously as to deny the mechanic 
an official situation in it now ? He who divided 
public teachers of old into different classes, giv- 
ing " some apostles ; and some prophets ; and 
some evangelists ; and some pastors and teach- 
ers ;" not despising the humbler office of an ex- 
torter ; does not now surely find human nature 
in such a delightfully improved state as to ren- 
der exhortation useless ? He who required the 
use of from one to ten talents in the days of his 
flesh, does not find the highest number multi- 
plying so fast, certainly, that he cannot, in the 
order of his providence, and in the government 
of his church, furnish employment to persons 

duced as a precedent to support the modern custom of grant 
ing mechanics a license to preach the gospel. There are 
two classes of objectors ; and those who are not met by one 
example receive a check from another. Some persons con- 
tend for a systematic, classical education, and condemn the 
smallest interference with the arts, as though they either 
lowered the dignity or contaminated the purity of the priest- 
hood. Such are referred to the case of St. Paul, who, after 
.his consecration to the priest's office, was not ashamed to 
labour with his own hands. The second class of objectors 
include such as would tolerate a literary character, but 
persist in maintaining that the illiterate mechanic has no 
right to assume the office of a Christian teacher. These are 
directed to the case of Peter — Peter, who could never boast 
of a classical education, and yet under the tuition of the 
Holy Ghost, could speak of " unlearned" men wresting the 
Scriptures to their own destruction, establishing by that a 
claim to another kind of learning from that which is taught 
in our public schools — without which a man m?y be a novice 
in the things of God, and with which, the unlettered plebeian 
rises, in church affairs, superior to the most erudite who is 
otherwise unschooled in the experimental verities of Chris- 
tianity. It is not a little singular, that among some of the per- 
sons who object to receive instruction from the lips of a poor 
mechanic, there are those who can see no impropriety in a 



92 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

possessed of only one or two ? Such a ministry, 
owned of God ; and he has deigned to own it ; 
ought to be borne by the more highly gifted and 
cultivated, for the sake of the poor, to thousands 
of whom the preaching of the Village Black- 
smith, and others as unlettered as himself, has 
been of essential service. It may occasionally 
produce the blush of learning; but, in doing 
this, piety at the same moment is compelled to 
blush at the very life which some of the lite- 
rati lead ; and thus blushes are blushed at in 
their turn ; for what in the one is criminal, in 
the other is an infirmity ; and to see such as in 
the eye of learning appear halt, and maimed, 
and infirm, rise in arms against the common 

clergyman attending to his glebe through the week. In "A 
Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Deaneries of Rich- 
mond and Catterick, within the Diocess of Chester, on 
Thursday, July 4th, 1816, by John Headlam, A. M., Rector 
of Wycliffe, and Deputy Commissary of the Archdeaconry 
of Richmond," agricultural pursuits are highly recommended 
to the clergy. Since then, Mr. Headlam has been elevated 
to the dignity of an archdeacon, and one of the clerical agri- 
culturists in the neighbourhood died in a state of insolvency. 
This case — should a second edition of the Sermon be de- 
manded, should lead Mr. Headlam to reconsider the para- 
graph in which the advice is given. Though such failure 
might be urged as a caution against ministers already set 
apart for the sacred office entering into the business of the 
world, who possess a competency of personal property, or 
are otherwise respectably supported by their separate 
charges, or as by law established ; it could not be so suc- 
cessfully urged against men already engaged in commercial 
pursuits, who received their call in the midst of such pur- 
suits — who, from various causes, may be prevented from 
devoting themselves exclusively to the work — who toil like 
Samuel Hick, without salary — and who have no other way 
of supporting themselves and their families, but by manual 
or other labour. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 93 

enemy of man, argues, at least, as in civil af- 
fairs, a nobler public spirit ; a higher degree of 
patriotism ; than is possessed by persons of su- 
perior ability, who remain inactive, and who 
ought to be led on by a sense of duty to labour 
for the public good. The moment it is esta- 
blished as a truth, that " God hath" not 
" chosen the foolish things of the world to 
confound the wise, and weak things of the 
world to confound the things which are mighty;" 
that very moment a substantial plea is instituted 
against the preaching of Samuel Hick. 



CHAPTER V. 

His diligence — The light in which he beheld mankind — 
The substance of a conversation held with Earl Mexborough 
- -Samuel's circumscribed knowledge in natural history — 
His views. of the Bible — Proofs in favour of the doctrine of 
future rewards and punishments — His visit to the seat of 
Earl Mexborough — A point of conscience — A painting — 
Fidelity in reproving sin, at the hazard of being injured in 
his trade — The millennium dexterously hitched in, as a 
check to pleasure-takers — Three hunting ecclesiastics ren- 
dered the subject of merriment among the titled laity — 
Ministerial fruit a proof of the power of truth, not of a call 
to preach it — Duty on saddled horses viewed as a hardship 
— Samuel's more extended labours — Privations — Persecu- 
tions — A poor widow — A conquest over bigotry at Ledsham. 

Being now recognised as a regular local 
preacher, Samuel conscientiously attended to 
his various appointments, though he was far 
from parsimoniously confining himself to them, 
as if duty proceeded no further than the limits 



94 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

prescribed to him by his brethren. His zeal 
was not to be bounded by the appointments of 
a plan. He observed his appointments as he did 
his regular seasons for private prayer — as duties 
to be performed — not to be neglected but with 
peril — and attended to with delight ; but extra 
work was like a special season for retirement — 
something out of the regular track — and was 
enjoyed by him as children revel in the enjoy- 
ment of a holyday. In the Church of Rome he 
would have had the credit of being wealthy in 
works of supererogation. He imitated, on a 
miniature scale, the great apostle of the Gen- 
tiles, and was " in labours more abundant :" 
and why ? He was in his Master's work, as 
St. John was in his Lord's sabbath, " in the* 
Spirit ;" and in the spirit of the thing itself, too, 
he was always found. 

His zeal, however, as has already appeared, 
was not a mere crackling blaze in the pulpit. 
His workshop was his chapel, and many were 
the homilies which he delivered over the anvil 
and over the vice, to both rich and poor. In 
this he was no respecter of persons. He looked 
upon every human being as possessed of an im- 
mortal spirit ; depraved by nature ; redeemed 
by Christ ; within the reach of mercy ; and him- 
self as accountable to God for the improvement 
or non-improvement of opportunities of useful- 
ness to them ; and hence, to repeat his own lan- 
guage, he " was always at them," because al- 
ways yearning over them in melting compassion. 
Adverting to the more early part of his history, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 95 

he observes, " At this time I feared no man, but 
loved all ; for I wanted all to enjoy what I felt. 
I remember Lord Mexborough calling at my 
shop one day to get his' horse shod. The horse 
was a fine animal. I had to back him into the 
smithy. I told his lordship that he was more 
highly favoured than our Saviour, for he had 
only an ass to ride on, when he was upon 
earth." The earl suspecting that Samuel was 
not very well instructed in natural history, re- 
plied, " In the country where our Saviour was 
born, the people had rarely any thing but asses 
to ride upon ; and many of them were among 
the finest animals under heaven, standing from 
sixteen to seventeen hands high." This infor- 
mation was new ; and as grateful apparently 
for the improved condition of his divine Master, 
as for an increase of knowledge, Samuel ex- 
claimed, " Bless the Lord ! I am glad to hear 
that; I thought they were like the asses in 
our own country." Samuel's simplicity might 
excite a smile ; but there were other biblical 
subjects, which gave him a superiority over 
many of his more learned fellow creatures. 
The Bible was better known by him as a revela- 
tion of God, on subjects of a spiritual and ex- 
perimental nature, than as an historical record.* 

* It is stated that Dr. Doddridge, while engaged with his 
Expositor, was in the habit of consulting one of the old 
members of his church on those texts of Scripture, which 
contain in them the heights and depths of Christian ex- 
perience — conduct equally complimentary to the doctor's 
condescension and the venerable man's piety. The doctor, 
though a pious man himself, knew that experimental religion 



96 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

While Samuel was engaged with the horse, 
the earl, says he, " sat down on the steady 
clog," and with great condescension and fami- 
liarity, entered into conversation with him, " I 
am inclined to think, my good man," said the 
noble visitant, " that you know something of 
futurity. Pray, what becomes of the soul 
when it leaves the body ?" As Samuel had 
no doubt of the divine authority of the Scrip- 
tures himself, he took it for granted — more 
from the strength of his own faith, than pre- 
suming upon it out of courtesy, as St. Paul 
might have done in the case of Agrippa, when 
there was no evidence to the contrary — that 
the earl was also a believer in their truth, and 
proceeded to state, that, in the times of old, 
" there was a certain rich man, which was 
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared 
sumptuously every day — that this man died 
and was buried — that, though the body was 
committed to the dust, the soul was sent to 
hell — that both would remain till the morning 
of the resurrection — and that, at that period, 
the body and soul, which had shared in each 
other's wickedness, should also share in the 

was progressive in its character and operations, and beheld 
his hoary auditor as having many years the advance of him 
— beheld him like mellow fruit ready to drop off, or to be 
plucked for heaven. He was aware that he himself wanted 
age and sunning for several passages ; and although he 
brought all the experience he possessed to bear upon them, 
he suspected there was still something beyond. To his 
own head, he required the advantage of the old man's heart ; 
and united knowledge and experience tell upon the under- 
standings and affections of others. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 97 

miseries of the damned, and the smoke of their 
torments would ascend for ever and ever : — 
that there was likewise a poor man named 
Lazarus, which was laid at the rich man's 
gate, full of sores — that he died too — that 
angels carried his soul to Abraham's bosom — 
that the soul would remain there till the great 
archangel's trumpet should sound, when rich 
and poor, small and great, should stand before 
God — and that the soul and body which shared 
in each other's sufferings upon earth, would 
share in each other's joys in heaven." It never 
entered into Samuel's mind to inquire whether 
the narrative came in the shape of a history, or 
of a parable ; and neither was it indeed neces- 
sary to his purpose, as parable is the represen- 
tation of truth — truth in the spirit, though not in 
the letter : nor had he any thing else in view — 
unless it were that of making the subject speak 
through the " rich man" to his noble auditor — 
than to establish, in the best way he was able, 
the existence of the soul, and the doctrine of 
future rewards and punishments. If the cha- 
racter before him had been such as to have 
^admitted an approach to the probationary cha- 
racter of the " rich man," a thorough knowledge 
of Samuel's intellectual powers would at once 
have destroyed the supposition of any thing 
like design to institute a parallelism ; and yet, 
there were few subjects — considering his own 
piety and station in society, and the exalted 
rank of the interrogator — more calculated to 
fix attention, or that could better afford ground 
7 



98 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

for reflection and inference. The earl re- 
marked that he was of the same opinion with 
Samuel himself on the subject of a future 
state, and wished the whole world possessed 
the same faith. 

Having thus received a little encouragement, 
Samuel proceeded to show that something more 
was implied in faith than a bare assent to the 
doctrines of the Bible ; and to guard the earl 
against any error, gave him an account of his 
experience, which was as artless in its design 
and detail as that of St Paul's was seasonable 
in the presence of Agrippa. In evidence that 
it was taken in good feeling, " he stopped," 
says Samuel, " till I related it, and gave me half- 
a-crown for preaching this short sermon to him." 

Not long after this, he was planned to preach 
at Methley, and had some of the servants of the 
same nobleman for his hearers, to one of whom 
— a female — he was uncle. Partly out of respect 
to Samuel, and partly to his niece, the servants 
united in inviting him to spend the evening 
with them at the Hall. But before he could com- 
ply with the request, he had a piece of casuistry 
to settle with his own conscience. The Earl 
and the family were in the metropolis, and he 
could not conceive how he could live at the 
noble proprietor's expense, without his consent, 
and remain guiltless. This point was soon 
disposed of, by the servants informing him, that, 
during the absence of the family, they were 
" living at board wages." " When I knew that 
they could keep me at their own expense," he 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 99 

observes, " I went with them, and stopped all 
night." This was one of those punctilious 
movements in social life, which would have 
escaped the notice of multitudes, but upon 
which the eye of an enlightened conscience — 
the guardian of property — instantly flashed, and 
through which the Christian was commanded 
to pause and inquire before he advanced. In 
the course of the next morning Samuel was 
shown through the rooms ; but of all that he 
saw, not any thing attracted his attention or 
made an impression equal to a painting of Joseph 
and Mary, the latter of whom was placed upon 
an ass, with the infant Jesus. He instantly 
recollected his conversation with the noble 
owner of the mansion, and knowing little of 
books, very innocently, and not unnaturally for 
a person of his cultivation, considered this 
painting as the source from whence the earl 
derived his knowledge. " It was one of the 
finest creatures," says he, " I ever saw ; and I 
thought my lord got his information from it." 
Then, instead of indulging in what was passing 
before the eye, he breaks away in a tangent, 
and shows where his heart is, by adding in the 
next sentence, " I am informed that his lord- 
ship has family prayer, morning and evening ;* 

* This nobleman died in the course of last winter, (1830,) 
and was succeeded in his titles and in his estates by his 
son, Lord Pollington. It was to Earl Mexborough that the 
village of Thorner, in which the late Rev. John Pawson was 
born and is buried, belonged : and his kindness and benevo- 
lence as a master and a landlord were not the only excel- 
lences for which he was beloved, and for which he is still 
had in remembrance. 



100 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

and I fully believe, that if Christians of all de- 
nominations were faithful to the grace given, 
both rich and poor would be saved. I am 
privileged with getting into the company of 
gentlemen, and I never let these opportunities 
slip. I consider it a privilege to speak a word 
for my Master, whom I so dearly love." 

It will be easy to perceive, that his associa- 
tion with persons of distinguished rank only 
extended to transactions in business, and that 
not any thing more than this is intended by 
himself; a circumstance which tends not a 
little to elevate his piety above all earthly con- 
siderations, as many in a similar situation to 
himself would have shrunk from the discharge 
of what appeared to him to be a Christian duty, 
from a dread of suffering in business by giving 
offence to their employers. An instance of his 
fidelity in this respect — and by no means a so- 
litary one — was exemplified in his conduct to- 
ward Mr. Wh — t — n,* whose horse had lost a 
shoe in the heat of the chase. Having had 
the horse in the hands of another blacksmith 
only the day before, and being interrupted in 
his enjoyments, he swore at the man for having, 
as he supposed, put on the shoe so carelessly. 
Samuel turned to the squire, and without 
further ceremony, told him, that he paid the 

* The widow and family of this gentleman resided at 
Aberford. Speaking of the lady, " Samuel," says Mr. 
Dawson, " stood very high in her estimation. He had full 
liberty to inform her of any case of distress which came 
under his observation ; and on information being given, he 
was frequently made her almoner." 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 101 

rent of the shop — that while it was in his hand 
he would not suffer any man to take the name 
of God in vain within its walls — and that if he 
persisted in swearing, he would not set the 
shoe on. He availed himself of the gentle- 
man's anxiety to return to the field, and the 
gentleman knowing that his enjoyment de- 
pended solely on his attention to the prohibition 
which had just been issued, very prudently de- 
sisted. The compassion of Samuel was excited 
both for the horse and for the rider. " The 
poor animal," says he, " could scarcely stand 
till I set the shoe on; and while I was shoeing 
him, I began to preach, and said, ' It is a pity, 
sir, that these good creatures should ever be 
abused.' " Mr. W., passing over the rebuke he 
had received for swearing, and finding, as he 
believed, the ground on which he stood as a 
hunter, somewhat more tenable than that on 
which he stood as a swearer, replied, " The 
dogs were made on purpose to hunt the fox, 
and the horse to follow the dogs." " God," 
said Samuel, who felt that the honour of his 
Maker was interested, " God was never the 
author of sin. He sent these creatures for the 
use of man, not to be abused by him. But the 
time will come, sir, when the hounds will not 
run after the foxes." Mr. W., either not ap- 
prehending his meaning, or disposed to amuse 
himself with the reply, asked, " Do you really 
think that such a time will ever arrive ?" " Yes, 
sir," returned Samuel : " it will come, as sure 
as God made the world ; for he has prophesied 



102 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

that the lion shall lie down with the lamb, and 
that all flesh shall know him, s from the least to 
the greatest." The shoe having been replaced, 
a period was put to the conversation, when 
Mr. W. very pleasantly tendered him some 
silver, which he refused to accept, saying, " I 
only charge a poor man twopence, and I shall 
charge you, sir, no more." The difference 
which Samuel observed between Earl Mex- 
borough and Mr. W. — having accepted silver 
from the former for a similar office, and declined 
receiving it from the latter — shows the acute- 
ness and discrimination occasionally manifested 
by him. " Did he," said Samuel to the biogra- 
pher, some years after, when relating the cir- 
cumstance in reference to Mr. W., " Did he 
think that I was going to give up my chance 
at him for half-a-crown ?" — thus renouncing 
every thing which in his estimation was cal- 
culated to deprive him of the privilege of free- 
dom of remark, and rebuke — though un- 
doubtedly erroneous in the supposition, that 
Mr. W. had any need to have recourse to the 
gift as a bribe. Mr. W. soon remounted, and 
set off to pursue the chase. On his return, he 
pointed Samuel out to the party that accom- 
panied him, as he passed the shop, and enter- 
tained them with his notions of the Millennium. 
A few days after Mr. W. on again passing the 
shop on his way to the field, endeavoured to 
divert himself at Samuel's expense, by asking 
with some degree of pleasantry, " Well, do 
you think the dogs will run the foxes to-day F 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. ? 03 

" O yes, sir," replied Samuel, with unexpected 
smartness, " the Jews are not brought in yet." 
Mr. W. seemed to have possessed as much 
millennial knowledge as enabled him to com- 
prehend Samuel's meaning, and rode ofT like a 
person who had been shot at by the archers. 

He was pretty generally known by the 
sportsmen of the neighbourhood, and few of 
them, though partly dependant upon them for 
employment, remained unreproved by him. 
earl C—th — t was one, among others, who 
had felt the force of some of his sayings, and 
who enjoyed their effects upon others. The 
earl had an opportunity of this kind furnished, 
when several gentlemen were waiting one 
morning for the hounds. " They met anent 
(opposite) my shop," says Samuel, " and stop- 
ped till the hounds came." Among the party 
were the Hon. C. C — , vicar of K — , the earPs 
brother ; the Rev. W — , rector of G — ; the 
late Rev. C — , vicar of A — ; and Dr. E — , who 
followed the medical profession at K — . " It 
came into my mind," continues Samuel, " that 
the three clergymen had no business there." His 
movements generally corresponding with the 
rapidity of his thoughts, he instantly " threw 
down the hammer and the tongs," darted out 
of the shop door, like an animal from a thicket 
of underwood, and appeared in the midst of 
them with his shirt sleeves turned up, his apron 
on, his face and hands partaking of the hue of 
his employment — as fine game, in the estima- 



104 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

tion of some of them, to occupy the lingering 
moments, till other game should be started, as 
any that could present itself in human shape. 
" Most of them," says he, " knew me. I said 
to them, Gentlemen, this is one of the finest 
hunts in the district. You are favoured with 
two particular privileges ; and they are privi- 
leges which other districts have not." This 
excited curiosity, which was as quickly grati- 
fied ; for the inquiry relative to " privileges" 
was no sooner proposed, than the answer was 
given — " If any of you should happen to slip 
the saddle, and get a fall, you have a doctor to 
bleed you, and three parsons to pray for you : 
and what are these but privileges 1 Three 
parsons ! O yes, there they are."* The odd 
association produced in the minds of some of 

* The three reverend gentlemen were not equally impli- 
cated in an adherence to the chase. With one — the first — 
it had become a passion ; and though possessed of other 
good qualities, especially benevolence to the poor, yet so 
much did the turf engross his attention that he thought very 
little of setting off for Doncaster and Pontefract races after 
service was over on a Sunday. The second was not re- 
markable for following the fox-hounds, and is supposed to 
have proceeded little further than that of attending to see 
them " throw off." Greyhound coursing was less objection- 
able, as being less hazardous. The third, the late Mr. C, 
like the first, was a genuine lover of the sports of the field. 
He received, however, what would have been sufficient as a 
rebuke for others, before he left the world to give an account 
of his apostleship. On a shooting excursion, his dogs, as 
usual — having been well trained — set some partridges ; the 
birds started, and flew over a hedge, behind which his 
servant was standing; he fired : — whether or not he winged 
a bird, is not for the writer to state, but it is well known 
that he killed his servant. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 105 

the gentlemen, between hunting and devotion — 
the huntsman's shout and the clergyman's 
prayer, the inconsistency of which not a few 
had light sufficient to perceive, and of which, 
by the way, we are furnished with a somewhat 
similar ridiculous appearance in some of our 
cathedrals and churches, where some of the 
ancient knights — not very remarkable for prayer 
during life — are represented as praying in 
marble, booted and spurred, clad in armour, 
with uplifted hands, about to rise to the victor's 
heaven, of which — abstractedly considered — 
the Bible knows as much as that of the hunter's 
— this odd association operated powerfully upon 
the risible faculties, and turned the laugh upon 
the clergymen, who, in the language of Samuel. 
" lowered their heads, and never spoke a word 
in their own defence," though forward enough 
at other times, and with open front too, to con- 
demn him for occupying any share of the priest's 
office. But right and truth give one man an 
amazing advantage over another ; guilt stands 
abashed in the presence of innocence ; a child, 
under peculiar circumstances, becomes a Her- 
cules, and wields truth — though in irony — like 
Elijah, with all the power of the imaginary 
deity's club. Towards one of the divines 
Samuel experienced an unusual leaning of 
spirit ; for he states, that it was " under Mr. 
C — , of A — , that" his " dear mother was con- 
verted to God in A — b — d church. The word 
preached," he proceeds, " proved the power of 
God to her soul's salvation. She died happy 



106 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

in God. I do not know that she ever heard a 
Methodist sermon in her life."* 

A nobleman who occasionally courted re- 
mark from Samuel, and who was more disposed 
to tease than to injure him, having told him that 
he ought to be surcharged for placing a saddle 
on his cart-horse on the Lord's day; he imme- 
diately threw back upon his noble implicator 
the mischiefs of the chase ; stating, that there 
would be a greater propriety in surcharging his 
lordship himself for breaking down the hedges 

* To argue from hence, that a Christian minister is at 
liberty to pursue what line of conduct he pleases, because 
the Divine Being may vouchsafe to honour his ministry 
with success, as though he thereby sanctioned the proceed- 
ings of the man, would be absurd. Truth, and the medium 
of its conveyance, are two distinct things — as much so as 
the water and the conduit through which it passes ; nor are 
any of the cleansing effects or refreshing qualities of the 
water to be attributed to the instrument of communication, 
as any other medium of conveyance, whether of wood, lead, 
or silver, would have equally served the purpose, and tire 
effects had been produced as easily without as with the one 
employed. This may be carried even a little further ; for it 
would be no difficult matter to prove, that ministerial fruit is 
not an exclusive proof of a call to the ministry. Open this 
door, and the greatest latitude is given to female preaching. 
Fruit — independent of other evidence — is only a proof of the 
power of truth — not a call to preach it. Truth belongs to 
God, and he will honour his own truth whoever may be the 
instrument employed to deliver it. Should the instrument 
himself be unconverted, he will receive the honour which the 
scaffolding receives from the builder, when it has served his 
purpose, in contributing its share to the completion of the 
erection — be thrown aside as constituting no part of the 
goodly edifice. This is not intended to apply to the clergy- 
man in question, however much out of place in the field, but 
to protect the simple-hearted from deducing false inferences 
from apparently legitimate, but, in point of fact, otherwise 
false premises. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 107 

of the farmer, than that he should be surcharged 
for saddling his horse, riding peaceably along 
the king's highway, and going about doing good 
by preaching the gospel. The law of the case 
was not what occurred to Samuel : he looked 
at it with the eyes of a Christian, without con- 
necting with it for the moment, the relation in 
which he stood to the British Constitution as a 
subject ; and although he would have yielded to 
no man in point of loyalty, and no man was 
more ready to pay the taxes imposed upon by 
government than himself; yet this was a case, 
like many others, of which he could only see 
one bearing ; and that was a bearing of hardship. 
The naked principles of good and evil arranged 
themselves on opposite sides, and so completely 
was his mind absorbed with these, that all the 
reasoning that could have been employed, would 
never have made the subject appear otherwise 
than as unreasonable to him — that one man 
should be permitted to do evil, and that another, 
from the purest motives, at his own cost, and 
with his own horse, should not be permitted to 
proceed in his own way to do good, without an 
extra charge. To have suggested that his lord- 
ship had to pay for his pleasure, by a tax upon 
both his dogs* and horses, would not have re- 

* It would have been a little amusing to have witnessed 
Samuel's feelings, and heard his remarks on the following 
items occasioned by British devotion to dogs. In a parlia- 
mentary paper, ordered to be printed, it appears that the 
total number of dogs of different descriptions (exclusive of 
packs of hounds) upon which duty was paid in the United 
Kingdom, during the year ending 5th April, 1829, was 



108 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

moved the impression of hardship from the 
mind of Samuel. His logic was simple and 
untrammelled by legal subtleties. His reply 
would have been, that his lordship had no right 
to do evil, though he paid for it — that creation 
belonged to his divine Master — that man was 
in misery — that he himself, as a servant of the 
Most High, was commanded to do good unto 
all men — and that, to the performance of acts 
of mercy, not only should " every let or hin- 
derance" be removed out of the way, but every 
person should contribute to the furtherance of 
such work — -forgetting that if all were contri- 
butors, there would be an end to receivers — and 
that in forming laws for the multitude, it was 
impossible so to construct them as not, in certain 
cases and under certain circumstances, to bear 
hard upon a few individuals. If any class of 
men had a right to institute a claim to exemption 
from such a tax, it was such men as Samuel 
Hick ; and had our legislators deemed exemption 
prudent, there is no doubt that to such men it 
would have been extended. 

Many of the circuits continued very exten- 
sive long after Samuel was admitted on the local 
preachers' plan, and such were his "outgo- 

353,058. The amount of duty paid upon them was 187,581/. 
The packs of hounds upon which duty was paid amounted 
to 69 ; the duty on each being 36Z, the sum total amounted 
to 2,484?. The duty paid upon dogs within the bills of mor- 
tality was 15,307Z. — To ha?e given a rough calculation of 
not only the tax upon hounds and horses, but the expenses 
of purchase, keep, keepers, &c, Samuel would have pitied 
the man who could spend so much upon so little. 



THE TILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 109 

ings," occasioned by the ardour of his zeal, 
that a horse became absolutely necessary, in 
order to enable him to accomplish his " labours 
of love." As an exemplification of part of his 
toil and of his treatment, he observes, " In 
those days there were not many noble, not 
many rich called. For my own part, I have 
travelled many scores of miles, and neither 
tasted meat nor drink till I got home [in the 
evening.] I have very often had snowballs 
thrown at me, and been abused by the enemies 
of the cross of Christ : I have been turned out 
of places where I have been preaching, by the 
clergy and the magistrates : but, bless the Lord, 
I have lived to see better days." After noticing 
the cessation of persecution, he again, by a 
sudden transition of thought, turns to his favourite 
subject — the grand Millennium, which appears 
like a vision breaking upon his " gifted sight," 
and " more golden bright than the rich morn on 
Carmel" — in a vision often repeated, in which 
there was to him, in the language of the poet, 
" a mingling of all glorious forms" — of " angels 
riding upon cloudy thrones, and saints marching 
all abroad like crowned conquerors :" nor had 
the fair poetical Jewess, so finely portrayed by 
Milman, in his " Fall of Jerusalem," more de- 
lightful visions, when " nightly visitations" 
poured over her mind, " like the restless waters 
of some pure cataract in the noontide sun," than 
had Samuel Hick of " the latter-day glory," 
toward which he was constantly turning, like 
the sun-flower, toward the orb of day, and in 



110 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the splendours of which he was constantly bask- 
ing and brightening. 

Whatever might have been the length of the 
journey, and whatever the fare with which he 
was treated, the spirit of Samuel remained un- 
broken, his gratitude unabated. He had bread 
to eat of which the world had no knowledge ; 
the religion of the soul appeared to bear up the 
animal frame, and to render it frequently insen- 
sible to pain, and want, and toil. The hut 
afforded him higher entertainment than the 
dwellings of the wealthy. The following re- 
lation furnishes an insight into his spirit. " I 
remember," says he, " I was planned to preach 
at Hemsworth* once, and being a stranger in 
the town, I inquired where the Methodist 
preachers put up their horses. I was informed 
that there was not any body in the place that 
would take them in ; but that a poor man re- 
ceived them at the common side. I went to 
my inn, and found a place to put up my horse, 
which they had built on purpose for the preachers' 
horses. When I got into the house, I soon 
found that the poor people had Jesus Christ with 
them. They were glad to see me, and to re- 
ceive both me and my horse. These dear 
friends had a great many enemies, because of 
their taking in the preachers. The people 

* In 1811 and 1812, when the writer was in the habit of 
visiting the village, in which there was then a neat Wesleyan 
chapel, it was in ihe Barnsley circuit. At the period re- 
ferred to by Samuel, it was probably connected with Leeds, 
Wakefield, or Pontefract. It is about six miles from Pon- 
tefract, and fifteen from Micklefield. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. Ill 

who had supplied them with milk refused to 
let them have any more ; and the publicans 
would not let them have yeast for their bread. 
They were also in a strait for food for the 
preachers' horses. The poor woman begged a 
few land ends of grass, got it dried, and pre- 
served it ; and she gleaned a little corn in the 
fields. She made us very comfortable. Some 
time after this, I was again planned for the 
same place. The Lord had opened the hearts 
of some of the farmers, and they opened their 
houses ; but I went to my old inn at the com- 
mon side. The woman cried for joy to see me. 
She said she was sorely troubled, because the 
preachers had left her house : but I told her not 
to be troubled about it — that she would get her 
reward for her labour of love. I went to the 
same place about thirty years after this, and 
found the same widow. She was very happy 
in her soul. We see that the Lord is as good 
as his promise, ' Them that honour me I will 
honour' — ' With long life will I satisfy' them, 
' and show' them ' my salvation.' She was 
very glad to seeme; and I told her that I would 
put her into my life for a memorial of her love 
to the preachers and their beasts. It was like 
the widow's mite." 

The simplicity of the man is at once seen, in 
telling the aged matron that she should occupy 
a place in the memoir of his life ; and that he 
intended nothing more in what he termed his 
" Life," than to show forth the goodness of God 
to himself and others, will readily be credited : 



112 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

nor shall his innocent intentions, though border- 
ing upon the childishness of simplicity, in re- 
ference to the poor widow, cease to be fulfilled 
to the very letter. " Ruth the Moahitess" did 
not cleave closer to " God" and his " people" 
than did this poor woman ; nor did the young 
widow appear more interesting to Boaz among 
the " reapers," than did this gleaner in the corn- 
fields to Samuel Hick. He, however, in con- 
soling her for the loss of the preachers, seemed 
to be unaware that he was furnishing a sub- 
stantial reason, in his notice of some of the 
farmers having " opened their houses," why 
they should take up their abode elsewhere ; a 
point upon which many would have fastened, 
and would from thence have argued the pro- 
priety of relieving her of a burden — though 
deemed by her a privation — which she had so 
long and so nobly borne, and which others, 
now made willing in the day of gospel power, 
were equally ready, and much more able to 
bear than herself. For complimentary as it had 
been for a poor widow, like her of Zarephath, 
whose " cake" and " cruse" never failed, to 
supply the wants of the prophets of the Lord, 
it would have reflected little honour on the more 
wealthy to have looked on with a stupid in- 
difference, and to have permitted its con- 
tinuance. Some of the very first expressions 
uttered by the new-born soul are, " What shall 
we do ?" These are the mere nursery ex- 
pressions of the babe, in reference to the cause 
of God. Some persons, it is true — not very 



/ 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 113 

remarkable for self-denial, or turning the good 
things of this life aside when within their 
reach — would have availed themselves of the 
opportunity of exuding a little bad feeling, by 
insinuating that the preachers were always on 
the alert to better their condition. But the very 
fact of their having stooped so long to lodge in 
the hovel, of their readiness to accommodate 
themselves to any fare, however scanty, and 
to any situation, however humble, while labour- 
ing to promote the happiness of their fellow- 
creatures, shows that they carried about with 
them the spirit of self-denial, and have it yet at 
hand whenever Providence opens the door and 
bids them enter : and the wailings of the widow 
for their loss are evidence of their worth ; for, 
having been cheered by their presence, their 
advice, and their prayers, on the social hearth- 
stone, she sighed and wept at their removal; 
and sighed the more, as she valued their 
society. 

Samuel took his own way of consoling her, 
and directed her attention to the " recompense 
of reward" for what she had done. And it was 
here, both as to subject and place, that he was 
in his element. To behold him thus, in one of 
his happiest moods, the reader has only to 
sketch a thatched cottage, tottering, like its in- 
mate, with age ; its whitewashed walls and mud 
floor ; a few homely pieces of furniture, impaired 
by long-continued use ; Samuel himself seated 
upon the remains of an old oaken chair, on the 
opposite side of the fire to the good old woman ; 
8 



114 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

there talking of the joys of the heaven to which 
they were both hastening, throwing a beam of 
sunshine into the heart of her with whom he 
conversed, and which seemed dead within her, 
till he stirred it into life. Now he crouched 
forward, with the crown of his head toward 
the fire — his eyes fixed upon the ground — his 
elbows occasionally supported by his knees — 
the palms of his hands turned upward — his 
thumbs and fore-fingers in constant motion, as 
though he were in the act of rubbing some fine 
powder between them, in order to ascertain the 
quality ; or like some of our elderly matrons at 
the distaff, twisting the fibres of the flax into a 
thread — dropping for a moment the conversa- 
tion — next chiming in with a few notes of 
praise — again taking up the theme of Christ and 
future glory — his face meanwhile glistening 
through the rising emotions of his soul — his 
hands now gliding into quicker action — the 
fountains of the beating heart breaking up — till 
at length, elevating his frame, and with his 
eyes brimming with tears, he seems to throw, 
by a single glance, all the tenderness of his soul 
into the bosom of the object of his solicitude, 
which at once softens, animates, and transfixes 
the eye of the beholder in grateful return upon 
himself for the conversational benefits thus con- 
ferred. 

One of the cases to which Samuel refers, 
when he states he had been " turned out of 
places by the clergy," occurred in his own 
neighbourhood. On the death of Lady Betty 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 115 

Hastings, and the termination of the Rev. W. 
Sellon's labours at Ledsham, the living was 
given to a young clergyman, in a delicate state 
of health, who came from London to take pos- 
session, and who, in his first sermon, made a 
warm attack upon enthusiasm, and denied the 
influences of the Holy Ghost, stating, that there 
had been no such thing as inspiration in the 
world since the apostolic age. To this he 
might have been led, from a persuasion that 
the people had been deluded into the belief of 
such things through the mistaken piety, as he 
supposed, of her ladyship, and the preaching 
of his predecessors. But while thus proclaim- 
ing his own nakedness of soul, of every hal- 
lowed influence, the poor people, " clothed 
with the Spirit of holiness," were better in- 
structed, and instead of being satisfied with this 
collegian, sent for the " Village Blacksmith," 
to build them up in the faith of Christ.* 

* The people's choice, in this case, must remind those 
who are acquainted with the facts of Mr. Baxter's account, 
in the Preface to his Disputations, pp. 186-7, of the election 
of Alexander. When Gregory conferred with the church 
respecting the choice of a pastor, several of the people were 
for having a man of rank and splendid abilities ; but re- 
collecting that the prophet anointed David, a shepherd, to be 
king over Israel, he requested them to look among the lower 
orders of society, and to see whether a person could not be 
found, possessed of piety and ministerial qualifications. 
This was received with indignation by several of the in- 
habitants of Comana ; and one lofty -spirited gentleman, 
whose views as little accorded with those of Gregory as 
they would have done with those of the little Christian flock 
at Ledsh'am, in after ages, told the worthy bishop, byway of 
derision, that if he wished them to take a person from the 
scum of the people, they might as well select Alexander the 



116 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Samuel yielded to their entreaties ; but found 
it difficult to obtain a house to preach in, as 
nearly every house was under clerical in- 
fluence, and those who sent for him were afraid 
of incurring the clergyman's displeasure. A 
good woman at length obtained the consent of 
her husband to lend their house for the occasion, 
indifferent to consequences. A congregation 
was soon assembled, and Samuel commenced 
with singing and prayer. During the second 
hymn, a noise was heard at the door, when 
Samuel left his stand, and went to inquire into 
the cause. He was met at the entrance by 
the clergyman, accompanied by another gen- 
tleman, to whom he announced himself as the 
preacher. 

Clergyman. " We want none of your preach- 
ing here, and are resolved not to have it." 

Samuel. " Sir, I preached the gospel here 

collier from their ranks. Gregory took the hint, and sent 
for Alexander, who appeared before them, ragged in his 
apparel, and besmeared, like Samuel, with the filth of his 
employment, exciting the laughter of the less sedate among 
the assembly. The bishop soon perceived him to be a man 
of both talent and piety ; and after withdrawing with him, 
and instructing him how to act, returned to the assembly, 
and delivered a discourse on the nature of the pastoral office, 
it was not long before Alexander, who was a comely-look- 
ing man, was again presented to the brethren, washed, and 
attired in the canonicals of the episcopal order, and was 
chosen — collier as he had been — bishop of Comana, with 
only one dissenting voice ! Though there is no doubt, that 
Alexander was by far Samuel's superior in point of intellect, 
yet the coal, the smoke, and the soot had an amazing in- 
fluence on the more elegant in both cases ; arid the Wesleyan 
body was as great a help to the latter as Gregory was to the 
former. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 117 

before you were born, and I will live to preach 
it when you are gone." 

Cler. " I tell you, I will not sutler you to 
preach here. This house is my property." 

Sam. " Why, sir, you do not preach the 
gospel to the people, for you deny inspiration ; 
and no man can preach it but by inspiration of 
the Spirit of God." 

Cler. " I discharge you from preaching in 
this bouse." 

To this authority Samuel reluctantly sub- 
mitted, as it would have been imprudent to en- 
courage the occupants to persist in resisting their 
landlord : the people were therefore dismissed. 
The clergyman, however, mistook his opponent, 
if he concluded that the field was his own ; 
for though the preacher was driven from the 
house, he was not driven from his purpose. 
On returning home, he wrote a long, faithful 
letter to the reverend gentleman ; informing 
him, in connection with the admonitions sent, 
that on the following sabbath he should again 
visit Ledsham — occupy a piece of waste land 
in the village, to which he could lay no claim, 
as it belonged to the lord of the manor — and 
should there, in his own cart, preach to the 
people ; giving him an invitation at the same 
time to attend, and to correct him in any thing 
he might advance contrary to the Scriptures or 
the Book of Common Prayer. As he made no 
secret of either his letter or his intentions, the 
report of his visit to Ledsham, in defiance of 
the newly inducted minister, soon spread among 



118 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the neighbouring villagers. The day arrived — 
the people flocked to the place from a circle of 
some miles. Samuel, after unyoking his horse, 
appeared in his cart, occupying it as a pulpit 
for the occasion, accompanied by four local 
preachers — the air rang with the song of praise 
— and a gracious influence attended the word. 
The clergyman and his lady stood at a distance 
hearkening to what was said. Samuel, to- 
ward the close, told them that he loved the 
Church, and hoped that, " as soon as the bells" 
gave " over tinkling" they would accompany 
him, and join in its service. " We all went," 
he observed, " and I never saw a church so 
full in my life. The aisles, the communion- 
place, and bell-house, were all crammed full. 
What was best of all, the clerk was on our side, 
and gave out a hymn tune. Such glorious 
music I never heard in a church before. The 
parson, poor young man ! was overfaced with 
us, and could not preach ; so that he had to 
employ another person." As a substitute is not 
so easily obtained, in an emergency of this kind, 
in the Establishment as among the Dissenters, 
it is probable that the person was prepared for 
the duties of the day, independent of this cir- 
cumstance,, and that Samuel attributed to the 
congregation that which originated in indispo- 
sition. This is the more likely, from what 
Samuel adds: — "The poor young man went 
off to London next morning, where he died, and 
was brought back to be buried about six months 
after." This fact, taken in connection with 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 119 

Samuel's declaration, " I preached the gospel 
here before you were born, and will live to 
preach it when you are gone," falls upon the 
heart with peculiar solemnity. It ought not be 
omitted, that the clergyman beckoned the 
churchwarden to him after the service, and 
stated that he had inquired into the character 
of the old blacksmith — found that he was a 
very good man-^-and wished him to be in- 
formed from himself, that he might preach in 
the village whenever he judged proper. 



CHAPTER VI. 

His "qualifications for soliciting pecuniary aid — An un- 
successful application to a clergyman — Relieves his circuit 
from a debt of seventy pounds — His anxiety to obtain a 
chapel at Aberford — A miser, and his manner of addressing 
him — A chapel erected — Contests with different avaricious 
characters — A visit to Rochdale — Administers seasonable 
relief to a preacher's family — His Scriptural views of charity 
— Supplies a poor family with coals — Regales part of a 
company of soldiers on a forced march — An amusing do- 
mestic scene — Visitation of the sick — Gives up the use of 
tobacco from principle — His indisposition, and inattention 
to the advice of his medical attendant — The good effects of 
his state of mind upon others — Raises a subscription for a 
poor man — Relieves a poor female — His love to the mis- 
sionary cause — Origin of missionary meetings among the 
Wesleyans. 

Such was the native restlessness of Samuel's 
character, that, like quicksilver, the slightest 
impulse propelled and continued him in motion. 
With the exception of sleep, or the utter ex- 
haustion of his physical powers he scarcely 



120 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

knew a pause in the work of God. This 
promptitude to be serviceable to others, the 
general esteem in which he was held, together 
with a peculiar fitness for benevolent enter- 
prise — the latter of which was founded on his 
own generosity — his simplicity of manners, a 
certain straightforwardness, which knew no 
fear, and saw no difficulties, rendered him a 
desirable person to engage in any purpose of 
soliciting pecuniary aid. Accordingly, he was 
selected by a committee formed for the occasion, 
and was commissioned to go through the circuit 
in which he resided, to collect subscriptions in 
order to relieve it from its financial embarrass- 
ments. Clothed with proper authority, and 
furnished with a book in which to enter the 
names of his subscribers, he went forth with 
the freshness and spirit of the husbandman 
entering for the first time in the season into the 
harvest-field. He saw the fields white, and in 
his view had nothing to do but put in the sickle. 
He found few obstructions ; and among those 
few — created, by the way, by his own impru- 
dence—he records one which may be consi- 
dered more amusing than vexatious. 

" I went to Ricall," says he ; " and as I pur- 
posed going to all the houses in the town, I 
thought there would be no harm in calling upon 
the Church clergyman. I did so ; and found 
him in his garden. I presented my book, which 
he gave me again, and looked at me." The 
look would have had a withering effect upon 
many of Samuel's superiors ; but the same spirit 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 121 

and views which emboldened him to make the 
application, supported him in the rebuff with 
which he met. " I am surprised," said the 
clergyman, " that you should make such a re- 
quest ; that you should ask me to support dis- 
senters from the Church of England !" Samuel 
instantly interposed with, " No, sir, we are not 
dissenters ; the church has dissented from us. 
The Methodists are good churchmen, where 
the gospel is preached. And as for myself, I 
never turned my back on a brief when I went 
to church." Though wiser heads than his 
own would have found it difficult to charge dis- 
senterism upon the Church, except from Popery, 
he was correct in his denial of the application 
of the epithet to the Methodist body. The 
retort was more equitably supported when he 
defended himself, by adding, to his reverence, 
" I think there is no more harm in you helping 
to support us, than there is in us helping to 
support you." The clergyman here very pro- 
perly took shelter under the wing of the state — 
his only ground of defence — by replying, " You 
are obliged to support us ; the law binds you to 
do it." Samuel, in return, resorted to the only 
code of laws with which he had any acquaint- 
ance, and which he consulted daily — the 
Christian code — saying, " Ours is a law of 
love ; and if we cannot all think alike, we must 
all love alike." He concludes, on retiring with 
his Wesleyan " brief" which met with a 
better reception elsewhere, " We parted after a 
long contest ; and although I did not get any 



122 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

money from him, I would not have taken five 
shillings for my cause ;" or, as in all probability 
he meant, the opportunity he had just had of 
pleading and supporting it. 

His summary of his labours* treatment, and 
success, during the remainder of his tour, is 
worthy of notice : " I had a very good time in 
going around the circuit — had very kind friends 
— preached and prayed — and got seventy pounds 
toward the debt. While employed in this 
noble work, I got my own soul blessed ; and I 
grew like a willow by the waterside. I got 
many a wet shirt, and many a warm heart ; and 
while I was begging for money, I did not for- 
get to pray for the souls of my fellow-creatures." 

Some money which had been lent upon a 
chapel in the neighbourhood some time after 
this, being about to be called in, Samuel felt 
very uncomfortable lest the sum should not be 
forthcoming when required. Relief seemed to 
present itself in a moment, while musing in his 
shop. He laid aside his tools — went into the 
house — washed — and attired himself in his 
best apparel. His friend, Mr. R., surprised to 
see him thus habited, inquired, " Where are 
you going, Samuel ?" " I am bown (going) to 
Frystone, to get some money for the chapel," 
he replied. " Of whom ?" it was asked. " Of 

Mr. ," was rejoined. Mr. R., knowing 

the gentleman, and considering him from his 
prejudices and habits, to be a very unlikely 
person for such an application, endeavoured to 
dissuade him from his journey. His entreaties 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 123 

were fruitless : Samuel set off — obtained an in- 
terview with the gentleman — was courteously- 
received — and after naming the object of his 
mission, the circumstances in which the trus- 
tees would be placed, and the nature of the 
security, was told that the money was at his 
service at any hour. Samuel returned de- 
lighted, and it is doubtful, whether any man 
besides himself would have obtained relief 
from the same source. Mr. R. had given all 
up in despair. 

Samuel Hick was a man who would not 
solicit charities from others, in order to save 
himself, or even a loan, which he would not 
have cheerfully advanced, provided he had 
the amount in his possession. He gave to the 
extent of his ability, and might even be asso- 
ciated with those of the Corinthians who, " be- 
yond their power, were willing of themselves" 
to impart gifts to others. Many interesting in- 
stances of liberality might be selected from 
different periods of his personal history, and 
here concentrated. As specimens of others 
which must henceforth remain curtained from 
earthly gaze, the following charities, without 
attending to any chronological arrangement, 
will tend to illustrate one of the more important 
traits in his character. 

He had long looked upon Aberford, his birth- 
place, as his Redeemer had beheld Jerusalem 
— with the compassionate emotions of a soul 
alive to the spiritual dangers and necessities of 
the inhabitants. His wish to see a Wesleyan 



124 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

chapel erected in it amounted even to anxiety, 
if not pain. In the year 1804, his wife had 
.£200 left her by a relation. This was placed 
by the side of the fruits of his own industry, 
and the union gave the appearance of wealth 
in humble life. As his property increased, so 
did his anxiety for a place of worship at Aber- 
ford ; and he at length declared, that if not a 
farthing should be contributed by others, rather 
than the village should be without a chapel, he 
would give the £200 which he had lately re- 
ceived. He stated his views and feelings to 
Mr. Rhodes,* and remarked, that he thought he 
could procure a piece of ground from a gentle- 
man, who, though a Methodist, had not come 
so far under the influence of its spirit as to 
subdue the covetousness of his nature.f Mr. 
Rhodes intimated to him, that he doubted his 
success in the direction toward which he was 
looking, unless the old gentleman was either 
about to die, or some extraordinary change had 
taken place in the disposition of his heart. 
Samuel was not to be diverted from his pur- 
pose : he could have rendered nugatory, by a 

* This venerable man, who was lining when the 44th 
page of the first edition of this memoir was in the press, 
has since joined the world of spirits. " He died May 18th," 
says Mr. Dawson, "and entered the same heaven with 
Samuel." 

f Samuel had some odd notions and expressions relative 
to such characters. Looking abroad at the fine feeling of 
benevolence which had gone forth, and not often associating 
with persons of a parsimonious disposition, he exclaimed to 
a friend one day, " The breed of misers is nearly run out, 
and not one of the few that are living dare get married, so 
that in a little time we shall see no more of them." 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 125 

single sentence — " The Lord has the hearts of 
all men in his own keeping" — all the reason- 
ing of the most skilful logician — could have dis- 
sipated every doubt like mist before the sun. 
Away he proceeded to the late Sir Thomas 
Gascoigne, Bart., the lord of the manor, in 
order, in the first instance, to obtain permission 
to procure stone upon Hook Moor, since without 
building materials the land would not have an- 
swered his purpose. This was readily granted. 
He next proceeded to the gentleman loaded 
with " thick clay," who was instinctively led to 
raise objections against the proposal. Samuel, 
in perfect keeping with the other portions of his 
thinkings and remarks, combated every objec- 
tion, not in the detail, but with one of his whole- 
sale sweeps — " The land is the Lord's; you 
are only the occupier ; and the Lord wants some 
of his own land to build his own house upon." 
Mr. T., who already had the " nine points" in 
law on his side, was not to be subdued by a 
single blow in the onset ; nor was Samuel to 
abandon himself to despair by the notion of 
possession, as he could have instantly conjured 
up the argument of death to dispossess the 
occupant. Such, however, were the irresistible 
appeals of one untutored mind upon another, 
such Samuel's importunity, that the miser in 
the man actually gave way before him, and the 
old gentleman told him, that he thought he 
should not live much longer, and would there- 
fore let him have the piece of ground which he 
had selected for the purpose. Samuel went 



126 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

home rejoicing ; but his joy, alas ! was of short 
duration ; it was like the fold of a cloud, which, 
by suddenly opening and reclosing, only veils 
the heavens with additional darkness : the 
miser started into life again during his absence, 
the proprietor altered his resolution, and every 
hope was frosted. All, however, was not lost. 
" It is but justice to state," Mr. Dawson ob- 
serves, " that though Mr. T. died before a chapel 
was erected at Aberford, yet he expressed a 
wish to his executors that they should give 
five pounds toward such erection, should one 
at any future period be built. With this re- 
quest, though only orally delivered, they cheer- 
fully complied." 

About eight years after this, there was a 
favourable opening for a chapel, which Samuel 
promptly embraced. He was desirous, however, 
of associating Martha with him in this charity ; 
and having more confidence in his God than in 
himself, he retired to pray, that her heart might 
be prepared for its exercise. On withdrawing 
from his privacy, and appearing before her, he 
scarcely felt satisfied respecting his success, 
and again retired without opening his mind on 
the subject. He prayed — he believed — and 
rising from his knees, descended from the 
chamber in confidence. Martha knew that a 
chapel was on the eve of being built ; and the 
moment now arrived for ascertaining the tem- 
perature of her charity. Samuel opened the 
business : " You know, we are bown to have 
a chapel at Aberford, Matty, and we must give 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 127 

something to it ; what do you think it should 
be ?" " Well," returned Martha, whose proper 
character only required a fitting occasion for 
disclosure, " We mun gee summut haunsom." 
Never did music sound sweeter to the human 
ear than did this sentence to Samuel, who was 
instantly in tears. But there was still a degree 
of uncertainty remaining, in reference to the 
standard which each had separately, and pri- 
vately, fixed upon, as reaching the point, which, 
in their circumstances, was deemed something 
handsome. Samuel, therefore, solicitous to come 
to a conclusion, asked, " And what shall it 
be ?" " Twenty pounds," replied Martha. This 
was almost too much for his feelings, not only 
on account of the generosity displayed, but be- 
cause it was the very sum upon which he him- 
self had previously determined; and the oppor- 
tunity for noticing it is the more readily em- 
braced, in order to place Martha's character in 
a correct light. It was intended as the dwelling- 
place of her God — it was a charity in which 
immortal spirits were concerned — and was also 
to be erected in the birth-place of her husband. 
A gentleman farmer" undertook the work of 
soliciting subscriptions for its erection, and 
Samuel had the unspeakable pleasure of seeing 
it rise in the face of the sun, vying with all 
around it for neatness and accommodation. 
Samuel had the honour of laying the first stone, 
upon which he devoutly knelt, and most fer- 
vently prayed for the blessing of God upon the 
house which was to overshadow it : " And as 



128 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

he offered the first prayer upon the first stone 
that was laid;" so, says Mr. Dawson, "in the 
pulpit of the same chapel, he preached his last 
sermon, and poured forth his last public prayer 
for the prosperity of Zion." The chapel was 
crowded on the occasion, and a collection made 
by him in the evening, for the purpose of de- 
fraying the expense of cleaning, lighting, &c, 
which far exceeded any sum that had been ob- 
tained for the same object before ; the auditory 
thus, both by their attendance and liberality, 
rendering that homage which they would have 
paid him, had they been certain he was about 
to make his exit, and expected to hear him 
announce for his farewell address, " Ye shall 
see my face no more." 

A conquest no less complete, but much more 
rapid than the preceding, was one which he 
obtained over another son of the earth, in one of 
his Yorkshire tours. Having met on former 
occasions, they were known to each other, and 
as great an intimacy subsisted between them 
as was possible in the admixture of fine gold 
and the coarsest clay. Samuel addressed him 
on the behalf of Christian missions, but found 
every part of the fortress provided with arms 
against any regular and deliberate attack. 
Poverty was pleaded — objections to the object 
urged — and reasons given why help should be 
sought in other quarters. On finding all " special 
pleading" ineffectual, and as though aware that 
a city, which would be proof against a regular 
siege, might nevertheless be taken by surprise, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 129 

he dropped in his accustomed manner upon his 
knees, and turning from the miser, directed his 
addresses to God. Every sentence was like 
inspiration, and penetrated the soul of the miser 
like the fire of heaven — withering him with 
fear. Impressed apparently with a dread of 
the Being before whom he was immediately 
brought in prayer, in whose hearing he had 
pleaded poverty, though possessed of thousands 
of gold and silver, and who could in an instant 
as easily take away life as annihilate property, 
he exclaimed with hurried vehemence, — " Sam, 
I'll give thee a guinea, if thou wilt give over." 
Samuel, unruffled in his pleadings by the oddity 
of the circumstance, and who, in fact, had too 
many of his own to be moved by those of 
others, and encouraged withal by the symptoms 
which appeared, proceeded with earnestness in 
his addresses, and changing the subject with 
the quickness of thought, told his Maker how 
inadequate a guinea was to effect the conver- 
sion of the world, and how trifling a sum it was 
in return for the thousands which the recipient 
had received in the dispensations of Providence. 
The miser was again met in an unexpected 
way, and in the genuine "love of money," which 
seemed to excite a fear lest he should be further 
wrought upon by the prayer of the petitioner, 
or God should extort from him, in the moment 
of excited feeling, more than the selfishness of 
his nature would allow, he again roared out, — 
" Sam, I tell thee to give over, — I'll give thee 
two guineas, if thou wilt only give it up." 
9 



130 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Anxious to maintain his ground, Samuel started 
up with the same abruptness with which he 
had knelt — held the miser to his word — secured 
two notes — and bore them away in triumph to 
a missionary meeting about to be held in the 
neighbourhood, where he exhibited them on the 
platform, with the high-wrought feelings of a 
man who had snatched a living child from the 
clutch of an eagle. To be grave in the re- 
hearsal or hearing of such facts, is as difficult 
as it is to believe in the sincerity of the giver; 
and were it not for the general artlessness of 
conduct and disposition manifested by Samuel, 
it would have been impossible to view it other- 
wise than as a species of dexterous acting, 
practised with a view to impose. But a pre- 
concerted plan would have spoiled it ; he had 
not a mind to carry him forward in such a thing 
beyond the length of his own shadow, beneath 
a meridian sun ; he was the mere creature 
of impulse — knew no more of plot than a 
child. 

He was less successful in another case, when 
called upon to visit a professor of religion pos- 
sessed of from six to eight thousand pounds, 
and yet, as a proof of the hollowness of his 
professions, would not allow himself the com- 
mon necessaries of life. Samuel, having heard 
he was dying, and being well acquainted with 
him, entered his habitation of wretchedness. 
The furniture was poor, and appeared to have 
served two or three generations in a regular 
ancestral line ; the room was filthy, and the air 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 131 

foetid ; and yet the general survey was less re- 
pulsive than the scene in one of the corners of 
the room, where the wretched man was lying 
on a still more wretchedly dirty bedstead, 
covered with an old horse-cloth, and scarcely 
an article of linen visible. Samuel was shocked 
at the sight, and accosted him, " Man, what art 
thou about ? Thou hast plenty, — why dost 
thou not make chyself comfortable ? Thou wilt 
leave thy money to those, happen, that will 
make none of the best use of it."* Turning 
his dim eye and squalid face toward Samuel, 
and thrusting his withered arm from underneath 
the filthy coverlet, like the skeleton arm of 
death stretching into sight, he pointed his finger 
downward and said, " Look there — I do en- 
deavour to comfort myself." Samuel inclined 
his head, till he was enabled to look beneath 
the bed, where he heheld a small phial-bottle, 
within one of his shoes, the heel of which was 
high enough to support it. " That," added he, 
* is a sup gin." x\fter dealing faithfully with 
him, Samuel knelt by his side, and supplicated 
Heaven for mercy. " But," said he to a friend 

* As a specimen of what he had to expect, and of the 
profusion of avarice, the man saw his nephew and heir, 
some time prior to this, coming out of a public-house op- 
posite to his own, staggering, and throwing off the contents 
of a sickened stomach as he crossed the street. " See 
thee," said he to his brother, who was sitting beside him, 
" how our money will go when we are gone ; — come, there 
is a penny — go thee> and get some ale, and let us make 
ourselves comfortable while we live." This ale, by the way, 
was sold at a penny per quart, which nothing short of sheer 
want and feverish thirst could induce a human being to 
drink. But it was the comfort of a miser. 



132 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

afteward, " bless you, barn* 1 could not pray ; 
the heavens were like brass ; there was no 
getting to the other side of them ; and how was 
it possible to get over all yon old crooks, rusty 
iron, and hob-nails, heaped up in the corner, 
which had been collecting for years, and which, 
if every body had their own, were happen none 
of his !" 

During part of the life of two of Martha's 
sisters, who resided in Rochdale, he paid an 
annual visit to them in that town. On one of 
these occasions, in 1801 or 1802, while Mr. 
Percival was stationed on the circuit, he went 
as usual to tender him his respects. Mr. P. 
engaged him to preach in the country the next 
day, which was the sabbath, and a person was 
appointed to conduct him. Samuel ascended 
the pulpit, preached in his accustomed way, 
but failed to secure the attention of his rustic 
hearers. He gave up preaching, and com- 
menced a prayer-meeting. It was not long be- 
fore a person manifested deep distress of soul, 
on accoimt of personal guilt. Samuel's com- 
panion was alarmed lest some of the irreligious 
part of the congregation should become unruly : 
but the service passed off much better than 
was anticipated. Samuel called upon Mr. 
Percival the next morning, to inform him of his 
sabbath's excursion ; and in allusion to this and 
similar visits, he told the people, after the 

* " ifara," in Scotland, bairn, for child ; an expression 
very common with Samuel, in his addresses to both rich and 
poor, old and young. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 133 

commencement of missionary meetings, that lie 
had " been a missionary many years, and had 
preached to white heathens in Lancashire." 
Mrs. P. was confined to her room, and Mr. P. 
himself — being without servant — was preparing 
breakfast for the children — eight or nine in 
number — such a breakfast as is commonly 
used by the lower classes of society, in Lan- 
cashire and the west of Yorkshire. Samuel 
cast an "alternate look at this minister of God, 
and at his poor children : his compassion was 
moved — it was more than he could support 
himself under — he retired — walked about the 
ground adjoining the house — sighed — wept — 
prayed. He knew the price of provisions was 
high, and board wages low : he saw the effects. 
He had but two guineas in his pocket ; he 
returned, divided the sum — and gave Mr. P. a 
guinea. On his arrival at home, he gave his 
wife the history of his journey, together with 
an account of the manner in which he had dis- 
posed of his money, stating, among other par- 
ticulars, that he had " lent the Lord a guinea 
at Rochdale." Martha remonstrated with him, 
supposing, as others would have done, that he 
had scarcely acted with prudence in his gene- 
rosity, telling him that, in his circumstances, 
" half a guinea would have been very hand- 
some." Samuel replied in his usual way, with 
the feelings of a man delivered of a burden, and 
with strong anticipations of the future, " Bless 
thee, my lass, the Lord will soon make it up to 
us," which was actually the case a few weeks 



134 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

afterward, and made up, it may be added, 
fourfold. He seemed to have none of those 
secondary or intermediate sentiments and im- 
pressions, which are often fatal to better feel- 
ings — the creature interposing between the 
Creator and the soul ; and hence it is that we 
perceive the spring of most of his movements : 
he considered himself, in all his charities, as 
acting immediately under and for God — as re- 
ceiving from him, and giving to him :* "furnish- 
ing a standing, a living exemplification of his 
faith in, " i* was a hungered, and ye gave me 
meat : inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done 
it unto meP 

There was still a degree of mystery hanging 
around the benevolence of Samuel at Rochdale, 
for which Martha was unable satisfactorily to 
account, as she had only allowed what she 
deemed the adequate expenses of the journey. 
But Samuel, supposing he was pinioned a little 
too closely for the occasion, paid a stolen visit 
to his friend Mr. Rhodes before he set off, re- 
questing the loan of a guinea, as he had fre- 
quently done, saying, " We can set it straight, 
you know, at Christmas, when we settle." 
When Martha came to a knowledge of this, 

* It was a fine sentiment of the benevolent Reynolds, of 
Bristol, in reply to a lady who applied to him on behalf of an 
orphan. After he had given liberally, she said, "When he 
is old I will teach him to name and thank his benefactor." 
" Stop," said the good man, " thou art mistaken : we do not 
thank the clouds for the rain. Teach him to look higher, and 
thank Him who giveth both the clouds and the rain«" 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 135 

she remarked, that she had often thought that 
Mr. Rhodes's payments appeared but small when 
compared with the work which had been done. 

In addition to this mortgage-like source, to 
which he fled on special occasions, he had a 
secret place in his shop, where he was accus- 
tomed to deposite a little cash for regular use. 
Living by the side of the great north road from 
London to Edinburgh, he was constantly receiv- 
ing visits from objects of distress. On their 
appearance, he went to his hoard, and relieved 
them as his feelings dictated, and his funds 
allowed. 

On one occasion he even put his friend Mr. 
R. upon his metal, in the race of charity. The 
Rev, J. P., finding that the debt upon the Pon- 
tefract circuit pressed heavily on the spirits 
and pockets of the stewards, resolved to have 
it either reduced or entirely liquidated. He 
accordingly went to Mr. R. among the first, as 
a person of property, in full expectation of meet- 
ing with encouragement and support. After 
looking at the case, and hesitating some time, 
Mr. R. dryly said, " You may put me down five 
shillings." The reverend applicant's spirits 
seemed to drop several degrees ; and with his 
horizon overcast in the outset, he began to con- 
clude, that the debt was not soon to be removed. 
Samuel was standing by, employing his ears 
and his eyes, but not his voice ; and Mr. P., 
turning to him, asked despondingly, " How 
much will you give V* " Put me down a 
pound," he returned. Mr. P.'s spirits suddenly 



136 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

rose— Samuel stood unmoved, apparently watch- 
ing the effect — while his wealthy friend stared 
with astonishment, saying, after a short pause, 
and in as graceful a manner as possible, " You 
will have to put me down the same, I suppose." 
So much for the influence of example. 

He was an utter stranger to the feeling of 
giving " grudgingly." His was, in poetic 
language, a " burning charity ;" like concealed 
fire, constantly enlarging, till it actually tears 
away the surface of the earth, to let loose the 
imprisoned flame. It only wanted an object 
upon which to expend itself ; and as he rarely 
gave with discretion, the first applicant generally 
fared the most bountifully. He was returning 
from the pit one day with a load of coals : a 
little girl seeing him pass the door, ran toward 
him, and asked him for a piece of coal, stating 
that her mother was confined, and the family 
without fire. He stopped the horse — went into 
the house — made inquiry into their circum- 
stances — found the tale of the child correct — 
brought the cart to the door — and poured down 
the whole of the load free of cost. Having no 
money upon him to pay for an additional load, 
and being apprehensive of a lecture at home 
for the abundance of his charity, he returned 
to the coal-pit, where he knew he had credit 
for twenty times the quantity, refilled his cart, 
and returned home with his soul hymning its 
way up to heaven, like the lark breasting the 
morning breeze, and gladdening the inhabitants 
below with its first song. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 137 

To him it was of no importance what was 
the nature of the want ; if it were a want, it was 
sure to be met by him with the first object cal- 
culated to supply it, to which he had any legal 
claim ; and met too with the freedom and sud- 
den gush of a fountain breaking from the side 
of a hill, giving forth its streams till its sources 
are exhausted by its impetuosity. Of this, his 
conduct to some soldiers on a march, during 
the late war, affords perhaps as fine a speci- 
men as any that can be selected. It was what 
is termed a " forced march," and in the height 
of summer. The regiment being on its route 
to the south, a party halted at Micklefield early 
in the morning ; the village inn could accom- 
modate but a small portion of them, and the 
remainder took their seats on the heaps of 
stones by the side of the road. Samuel, as 
usual, was up early, and sallying out of the 
house, he had presented to his view these ve- 
terans in arms. A thrill of loyalty was felt in 
his bosom, as every thing connected with his 
King, to whom he was passionately attached, 
was calculated to produce. He instantly re- 
turned to the house, and placed before the men 
the whole contents of the buttery, pantry, and 
cellar — bread, cheese, milk, butter, meat, and 
beer went, and he himself, in the midst of the 
men, as happy as a king living in the hearts of 
his subjects. Though in the very heyday of 
enjoyment, he looked with tenderness upon the 
men, who were about to take the field, and dis- 
missed them with his blessing. But he had 



138 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

part of the reckoning still to pay with his 
partner. Martha came down stairs, and after 
engaging in other domestic concerns, proceeded . 
to the buttery, to skim the milk for breakfast. 
All had disappeared. Inquiry was made ; and 
when she found how the things had been 
disposed of, she chided him, saying, " You 
'might have taken the cream off before you gave 
it to them." Samuel replied, " Bless thee, 
barn, it would do them more good with the 
cream upon it." The officers of the regiment 
having heard of his conduct, called upon him 
to remunerate him for what he had done ; but 
he thanked them for their intentions, stating 
that what he had given, he had freely given, 
and that the men were welcome to the whole. 
The tale of Samuel's bounty was handed from 
company to company, and lastly from regiment 
to regiment : and on the plains of Waterloo, 
some of the brave fellows, when nearly ex- 
hausted through excessive toil, were heard to 
express a wish by some who had heard the 
story, and knew Samuel, that they again had 
access to his milk and beer. Little was he 
aware that he would be borne in British hearts 
from his native shore, and triumph in those 
hearts in his deeds of charity, upon a field and 
in a struggle that decided the fate of Europe, — 
be recollected as the warrior's solace, in the 
hour of peril ! 

Though Samuel received occasional lectures 
from his good wife on account of his charities, 
it was not owing to a want of generous feeling 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 139 

in her, but to a greater share of prudence ; and 
it was a fortunate circumstance for him, that he 
# had such a curb at hand ; otherwise he would 
have been often seriously involved in his cir- 
cumstances, and through charity alone, might 
either have enlarged the list of bankrupts in 
the Gazette, or been led to the workhouse to 
subsist on the charity of others. In this, ' 
though in the character of a drawback, she was 
in reality a help-meet ; and by prudently looking 
forward, was enabled to foresee the possibility 
of an evil day of want, and to hide both herself 
and the children from its calamities, by a little 
timely provision. It was not surprising to 
find Samuel plunging occasionally, yet inno- 
cently, when the reins were drawn a little more 
tightly than he wished. An amusing scene of 
this kind took place in the domestic circle. He 
was going out, and had attired himself in his 
better garb for public appearance. Not know- 
ing what demands of justice or of mercy might 
be made upon him before his return, he asked 
his daughter, then at home, and who frequently 
acted the part of purse-bearer, for a few shil- 
lings. Martha, whose hearing was unusually 
quick on those occasions, was on the look out. 
The two hands were stretched out — that of the 
daughter to give, and that of the father 10 re- 
ceive — without either of them being aware that 
another eye was upon them. Martha, unper- 
ceived, glided up to them like an apparition — 
passed her arm between them — and, placing 
her hand beneath the one containing the silver, 



140 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

gave it a sudden jerk : up flew the contents, 
which suddenly descended in a shower on the 
house floor, when Martha, out of seven or eight . 
shillings, secured a dividend of four. 

These little incidents show the man, as well 
as the necessary restraints imposed ; nor could 
he be seen without them : and however sen- 
sible the biographer may be of their want of 
dignity, and sometimes even of gravity, there is 
a greater solicitude in " hitting off the likeness," 
than in securing fame by the chaste and clas- 
sical execution of the work. Samuel, to be 
known, must be threaded through every path 
of private as well as public life ; and into one 
of the former he may again be traced, and be- 
held with interest, if not admiration. 

He was in the habit of visiting the sick ; and 
as he was no respecter of persons, he attended 
people of every persuasion, and in every rank 
of life, to whom he could find access. Among 
others, he visited the wife of old William Hems- 
worth, who died in 1820. William and his 
sons, having united themselves to the Wesleyan 
society, were in the habit of accompanying 
Samuel to different places in his religious ex- 
cursions. She, being a rigid Roman Catholic, 
looked upon Samuel as a heretic, leading them 
astray from the true faith. Affliction, at length, 
overtook her, on her route to the grave : and 
what was not a little singular, she sent for 
Samuel to pray with her. His prayers were 
effectual — her heart was smitten — the clouds 
of ignorance and superstition rolled off in sue- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 141 

cession from her understanding, like mists from 
the face of a landscape before the morning sun. 
On the arrival of the priest, under whose 
guidance she had been for a number of years, 
he was shown to her apartment ; but instead of 
waiting for instruction, she upbraided him for 
not having inculcated upon her the necessity 
of the " new birth," stating, at the same time, 
that she derived " more good from Sammy 
Hick's prayer, than from all that" she " had 
heard before, and that if" she recovered, she 
would " go among the Methodists." The 
daughter asked the priest to pray with her 
mother ; but supposing her too far gone in 
heresy for recovery, he retired, saying, " I have 
done with her." It is pleasing to add, that the 
woman died in possession of " perfect peace." 

Another person of the same persuasion, and 
nearly at the same time, resident at Micklefleld, 
was visited by Samuel. The priest and Samuel 
accidentally met in the sick man's chamber at 
the same time ; and in order to effect either the 
withdrawal or expulsion of the latter, the priest 
told the family that he could " not do any thing 
while Samuel" was present. This was a point 
which required some deliberation ; and no one 
appearing forward in the business, the reverend 
gentleman took it upon himself, to order Samuel 
to walk out of the house. Samuel, supposing 
he might be serviceable on the occasion, ob- 
served, " Two are better far than one :" but 
the priest not according with this sentiment, 
and the mother of the poor man declaring, in- 



142 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

toxicated meanwhile with liquor, that she could 
not say her 'prayers for Sammy Hick, he was 
obliged to leave. So much for bigotry and in- 
toxication, linked on the occasion like a wedded 
pair ! 

He was more useful in visiting a poor aged 
widow. After encouraging and praying with 
her, he put sixpence into her hand — the sum 
total, it is believed, he had upon his person at 
the time. She appeared overpowered with 
gratitude, and he was deeply affected with the 
manner in which it was expressed. It sud- 
denly occurred to him, and he internally ac- 
costed himself — " Bless me ! can sixpence 
make a poor creature happy ? How many six- 
pences have I spent on this mouth of mine, 
in feeding it with tobacco ! I will never take 
another pipe while I live : I will give to the 
poor whatever I save from it." From that 
hour he denied himself. It was not long, how- 
ever, before he was seriously indisposed. His 
medical attendant, being either inclined to try 
the strength of his resolution, or supposing that 
he had sustained some injury by suddenly 
breaking off the use of the pipe, and therefore 
would derive advantage from its re-adoption, 
addressed him thus : 

Phys. " You must resume the use of the 
pipe, Mr. Hick." 

Sam. " Never more, sir, while I live." 

Phys. "It is essential to your restoration to 
health, and I cannot be answerable for conse- 
quences, should you reject the advice given." 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 143 

Sam. " Let come what will, I'll never take 
another pipe : I've told my Lord so, and I'll 
abide by it." 

Phys. " You will in all probability die, then." 

Sam. " Glory be to God for that ! I shall go 
to heaven ! I have made a vow, and I'll keep 
it." His medical adviser found him unflinching 
in the face of danger and of death ; and as he 
recovered from his illness, he more readily at- 
tributed the prolongation of life to the honour 
which God had conferred upon him for his 
self-denial, than to the most efficacious me- 
dicine that could have been administered. 

This fearlessness, for which he was indebted 
both to nature and grace, produced on one oc- 
casion a happy effect. He had been at Askern 
Spaw with Martha, some time in 1816, and on 
his return home, took occasion to stand up in 
the cart, before he reached Norton, to throw 
his great coat over her in order to prevent her 
from taking cold during her exposure to the 
open air. Just at that moment the horse took 
fright — Samuel lost his balance — fell backward 
out of the cart — and pitched upon his shoulder. 
He sustained considerable injury, and when 
raised from the ground, was unable to stand 
erect. He was conveyed with some difficulty 
to the village ; on reaching which, a medical 
gentleman was sent for, who deemed it ad- 
visable not to bleed him, though urged to it by 
him. " I am very ill, sir," said Samuel, " and 
must be bled." The surgeon replied, " If you 
are bled at present, you will die." " Die—die, 



144 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

sir," was returned, " What is death to me ? I 
am not afraid of dying. I have nothing to do 
but to make my will ; and I can make it in 
two minutes ; there are plenty of witnesses. 
My money shall be disposed of so and so," 
naming, in a few brief sentences, the manner : 
then stretching out his great arm, as he did on 
a subsequent occasion, he said, " Live or die, I 
will be bled." The gentleman, hoping the best, 
opened the vein, and took a basin of blood 
from him. Not satisfied, Samuel stretched forth 
the other arm, and said, "I will be bled in this 
also." His attendant again complied with his 
wish, and took from him a second basin full. 
"When he did this," Samuel observed, "the 
pain went away as nice as aught" On the 
bandages being properly adjusted, Samuel said, 
" Now, doctor, you have been made a blessing 
to my body ; I will beg of God to bless your 
soul." So saying, he knelt in his usual hurried 
way, and devoutly prayed for his benefactor. 
The surgeon, on rising, remarked, " I never 
had such a patient as you in the whole course 
of my practice :" and then inquired his name 
and place of abode, to which Samuel distinctly 
replied, hitching in at the close, " I come here 
to preach sometimes." This led to an invita- 
tion to the house of the surgeon, the next time 
he should visit the village, to which Samuel 
readily acceded, stating afterward to a friend, 
that he was " glad of it," for he " wanted a 
good inn there." Accordingly, the next time 
he was appointed to preach in the village, he 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 145 

rode up to the surgeon's door, was hospitably 
entertained, and had both the surgeon himself 
and his family as hearers. The house in which 
he preached was exceedingly crowded ; and on 
returning with the family, he accosted his host, 
— " You see, doctor, how uncomfortable we 
are. We ought to have a chapel. The stone 
is the Lord's — the wood is the Lord's — and the 
money is the Lord's." The gentleman took 
the hint ; and with a heart as ready to improve 
upon it, as he had acuteness to perceive it, 
offered a subscription to set the work in motion ; 
Samuel instantly proceeded to solicit subscrip- 
tions from others ; and out of this misfortune 
arose a Wesleyan Methodist chapel. In that 
chapel Samuel had the pleasure of holding 
forth the word of life. It may be added, that 
so much delighted was the gentleman with the 
patience, fortitude, and conversation of Samuel; 
and connecting with it his intention to leave 
home two or three times before he was sent 
for, but still unaccountably detained, without 
being able to assign any reason, till Samuel's 
messenger arrived, he was led to acknowledge 
a supreme power, and to perceive a vitality in 
the influence of religion upon the heart, which 
he had neither previously known nor confessed. 
Prodigal as Samuel was in some of his cha- 
rities, toward persons in great need, and who 
were likely to make a proper use of them, 
there were seasons when he seemed to be 
vested with a discretional power, beneficial to 
the recipient. A poor man had lost a horse 
10 



146 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

by sickness. Samuel, who was "a servant of 
all work," in the begging line, went around the 
neighbourhood, and collected money for the 
purchase of another. This amounted to a guinea 
more than the value of the animal, — a sum of 
less than twenty shillings being sufficient to 
purchase another equally poor to replace it. 
The man himself, though a professor of reli- 
gion, was less entitled to Samuel's confidence 
than his benevolence : and to show how low 
he stood, by the small degree of prosperity he 
was capable of sustaining, Samuel, speaking of 
him to a friend, said, " I did not give him the 
guinea all at once ; I gave it him as I thought 
he needed it ; for bless you, barn, you see he 
could not bear prosperity." The notion of 
"prosperity" being appended to so small a sum, 
is worthy of being preserved as a memento 
emanating from. a mind which was itself stamped 
by.it as a still greater curiosity. 

Benevolence of heart, though connected with 
slender personal means, is often of greater value 
to a neighbourhood, in such a man as Samuel 
Hick, than the opulence of others. A female 
who resided about a mile from his house was 
extremely poor, and hastening, through con- 
sumption, to an invisible world. When her 
case became known, he went to Aberford— 
applied to several respectable people — stated 
her circumstances — and solicited a variety of 
things which he deemed suitable for her relief 
and support. Aware of the honour which God 
puts upon faith, agreeably to the declaration of 



TH£ VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 147 

our Lord to the blind man — " According to 
your faith be it unto you," he provided himself 
beforehand, in the strength of his confidence, 
with a basket ; which, together with his pocket' 
was replenished on his return, having between 
twenty and thirty shillings in one,— muffins, 
bread, butter, sugar, and a shoulder of mutton 
in the other. Careful Martha, who was never 
backward in rare cases, as has been perceived, 
and would have done more in such as were 
less necessitous, had she not known that 
Samuel's benevolence was more than sufficient 
for both, added her half-crown to the moneys 
collected ; and Samuel, with his basket by his 
side, set off to the cottage of this daughter of 
affliction, and was received like the angel of 
plenty in time of famine. 

I His heart always melted," says Mr. Dawson, 
"at the sight, or on hearing the tale of wo! 
He could not hear of persons in distress, but he 
wept over them ; and if they were within his 
reach, he relieved them according to his ability 
applying also to others more affluent than him- 
self to assist in such works of mercy. If ever 
a person answered the character of the liberal 
man, who devises liberal things, Samuel Hick 
was the man. The highest luxury that he 
could enjoy was, to deal out bread to the hungry 
to bring the poor into his house that were cast 
out, to cover the naked, and to satisfy the 
afflicted soul. Then it was that he felt the full 
truth of that sentence, < It is more blessed to 
give than to receive.'" 



148 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

But if one object of charity was more para- 
mount than another in his affections and exer- 
tions, it was that of Christian missions ; — a 
charity on the broadest scale, which blends all 
the miseries of time with the glories of eternity, 
alleviating the one by the contemplation of the 
other ; — a charity which looks at the whole man, 
in all the relations of life ; — a charity whose 
object is the destruction of sin — that which, 
like a pestilential vapour, blights the whole 
harvest of human hope and comfort, and, carry- 
ing the seeds of destruction into every source 
of prosperity, reduces society to the condition 
of a tree withered to the root ; — a charity, in 
short, occasioned by " Paradise Lost," and 
which will never know cessation in its doings 
till the fact is ascertained of " Paradise Re- 
gained." So far back as the period when the 
late Dr. Coke commenced what has been termed 
the "drudgery of begging," Samuel gave him 
half a guinea for the support of the missions ; 
and this, considering the scanty means he had 
then at command, and the small number of 
missionaries employed, would not have dis 
graced the " Reports" of modern times. But 
it was not till the public meetings commenced 
at Leeds,* and elsewhere, that his soul, as 

* The biographer has had too deep an interest in these 
meetings not to recollect, the influence of their beginnings 
upon his own mind. It is difficult precisely to determine at 
this distance of time with whom the first thought originated, 
or what was the first sentence that led to them. Mr. Scarth, 
of Leeds, repeatedly remarked to Mr. Dawson, before Dr. 
Coke took his departure for India, " The missionary cause 
must be taken put of the doctor's hands ; it must be made a 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 149 

though it had been in bondage before — for such 
was the change — bounded off, and expatiated 
at full liberty. Here he had ample scope for 
the finest, the fullest, and the deepest philan- 
thropic feelings of his heart ; and for many 
miles around his own homestead it was rare not 

public — a common cause." It is not impossible that this may 
have been the germ of the whole. The Dissenters had a 
public meeting in Leeds, a few months previous to the first 
public one among the Wesleyans. This having been held 
in the course of the summer, Messrs. Scarth and Turkington 
visited the conference, and expressed theiT views on the 
subject to the Rev. George Marsden, stating that something 
should be done in a more public way for the missionary in- 
terest belonging to their own body. With their views Mr. 
M. perfectly coincided. When the embarrassed state of the 
missionary fund came before the conference, there appeared 
to be no alternative between reducing the preachers at home 
or the missionaries abroad. There was too much zeal and 
liberality in the body to permit either. The subject was one 
of deep interest ; and did not die at conference. Mr. Morley, 
the Leeds superintendent, thought, that if the Dissenters 
could raise a Missionary Meeting, the Methodists might 
also ; and accordingly suggested the subject to his colleagues, 
Messrs. Bunting and Piiter, who zealously entered into his 
views. Not satisfied with commencing this " new thing" in 
Methodism on their own responsibility, they were desirous 
of knowing how far the proposal of a public meeting would 
meet with the countenance of others of their brethren. 
Bramley having been then but recently divided from the 
Leeds circuit — a close union still subsisting between them — 
and being contiguous to each other, these gentlemen pro- 
ceeded thither, with a view to deliberate with the Rev. W. 
Naylor and the biographer, who were ' then stationed on the 
Bramley circuit. No persuasion was requisite ; the pro- 
priety, necessity, and practicability of the measure were 
manifest at once. The Leeds and the Bramley preachers 
thus took the first decisive and active step in the work, 
which has since been carried on to such an extent. A cor- 
responding chord was soon found to vibrate with pleasure in 
the breasts of the Rev. Messrs. R. Watson and J. Buckley, 
of the Wakefield circuit ; and they were followed by Messrs. 
Reece and Atmore, of the Bradford and Halifax circuits, 



150 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

to see his face turn up in the crowd, like the 
image on a favourite medal, which is the pride 
and boast of the antiquary, and fixes the eye of 
the spectator much sooner than most of the 
others which adorn his cabinet. 



CHAPTER VII. 

His patriotic feeling — High price of provisions — Differs 
with Mr. Pawson for prognosticating evil — Letter to the 
Rev. Edward Irving on prophecy — Threatened invasion of 
Bonaparte — An address to the king — Samuel's loyalty — 
M. A. Taylor, Esq. — The suppression of a religious as- 
sembly — A defence of a religious revival — His interview 
with Mr. Taylor — Obtains a license to preach — An allusion 
to him in a parliamentary debate. 

A man like Samuel Hick, whose mind was 
so thoroughly imbued with divine grace, was 
not likely to be defective in what is termed 
nationality, and the still more Scriptural prin- 
ciple of loyalty. Never did a Jew, by the 
rivers of Babylon, reflect with greater tender- 
ness upon Judea, " in a strange land," than he 

who both exulted in the prospect of so ample a harvest of 
good. Mr. Bunting organized the first plan — Mr. Watson 
wrote the first address — Mr. Buckley preached the first 
sermon on the occasion, at Armley, a place belonging to the 
Bramley circuit — and the first public meeting was held in 
the old chapel, at Leeds, — T. Thompson, Esq., M. P., in 
the chair. The meetings were at first beheld by some of the 
brethren as the dotage of enthusiasm, and as the forerunner 
of a marriage union with the world. But they became so 
productive, and were so instrumental in producing good to 
the contributors, that the most sturdy opponents were not 
^infrequently found afterward in the chair delivering their 
recantations. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 151 

did upon his country, which he was in the ha- 
bit of designating, " our island" — " our England," 
always considering himself as having a per- 
sonal interest at stake in all its affairs ; and never 
did a subject in any realm pour out with greater 
sincerity and fervour the prayer of — " God save 
the king." 

During one of Mr. Paw son's appointments to 
the Leeds circuit, Samuel observes, " Corn 
■was very dear. The poor people went around 
our town with a half guinea in their hands, 
and could not get a stroke* of corn for it. Mr. 
Pawson came to Sturton Grange to preach, 
and while preaching, he told his congregation 
that there would be a famine in our land, and 
that he had seen it coming on for twenty years." 
Such a prophecy, from such a prophet — a man 
whom, like all other Wesleyan ministers, he 
considered an apostle of God — and in reference 
to his own land, " of every land the pride," 
could not but awaken in him strange emotions. 
Without attempting to endue Mr. Pawson with 
the gift of prophecy, it is probable that he might 
intimate to his congregation, that he had sighed 
over the extreme wickedness of the wicked — 
having been touched by it — that from the poig- 
nancy of his feelings, he foreboded some mani- 
festation of the divine displeasure — and by 
way of improving the subject, in order to lead 

* Strike, a bushel. In the west of Yorkshire, a strike is 
two pecks or a half bushel ; hence the high price of grain at 
the period referred to, when poor people could not obtain 
a half bushel for a half guinea. 



152 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the dissolute to repentance, prayer, and re- 
formation, might lay hold of passing events in 
such a way as to lead Samuel, inapprehensive 
of his meaning, and not taking in the whole of 
the connecting links of thought, to draw the 
inference stated. 

Samuel returned home reflecting on what he 
conceived to- be Mr. Pawson's view of the 
subject ; and the following extract will show 
the acuteness of his feelings, his simplicity, 
and his piety. " I began," says he, " to be 
very miserable ; and as my children were small, 
I thought it would be a sore thing for them, my 
wife, and myself to be pined to death. When 
I got home I went into my closet to inquire of 
the Lord, whether there would be a famine or 
no ; and while I was pleading I got as fair an 
answer from the Lord, that there would be no 
famine, as when he pardoned my sins and 
cleansed my soul. I saw that there was plenty 
of corn to supply till harvest. But this did not 
satisfy me. I told my wife that I could not rest 
till I went to inform the preacher that there 
would be no famine in our land. I set off for 
Sturton ; and when I got there, I told that dear 
woman of God, Mrs. Ward, my errand." Here 
Mrs. W. very properly interposed, not only on 
account of the lateness of the hour, which ap- 
pears to have been on the same evening after 
preaching— but by delicately suggesting the 
impropriety there would be in his " pretending 
to dictate to one of the first preachers in the 
connection." But Samuel was not to be re- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 153 

pulsed by either first or second, whether the 
claim instituted referred to priority of time or 
superiority of talent. He had his one argument 
at hand — -'*' Thus saith the Lord ;" and pro^ 
ceeds, " I told her not to blame me, for it was 
the Lord that had sent me. With a deal to do, 
she let me into the room ; and I told our brother 
Pawson, that the Lord had sent me to inform 
him that there would be no famine in the land." 
Mr. Pawson, whose forebodings were scarcely 
removed, replied, " Well, brother, I shall be 
very thankful to the Lord to find it not so." 
Samuel, taking a little credit for the correctness 
of his own judgment and impression in the 
case, and still firm in his belief in the actual 
prediction of a famine, adds, " So we see how 
good men may miss their way, for there was 
no famine." To persons whose feelings are not 
immediately interested, it is sometimes amus- 
ing to hear well-meaning men, without a pro- 
phetic soul, guessing against each other for 
their Maker. In the present case, Samuel's 
conduct in going to " inquire of the Lord," 
manifested a spirit worthy the most simple, 
the purest, the best part of patriarchal times; 
and as they were chiefly his own fears that had 
to be allayed, the impression that effected their 
removal was so far — all prophecy on the oc- 
casion apart — an act of mercy — mercy mani- 
fested in the exercise of prayer. 

He availed himself of this supposed pro- 
phetic failure of Mr. Pawson, February 28th, 
1826, when he addressed a letter to the Rev 



154 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH* 

E. Irving, who had then reached the acme of 
his oratorical attractions, though not of his 
theological reveries, and who, as Samuel had ' 
been informed, had been prognosticating na- 
tional calamities, because of national wicked- 
ness. The original, which is in the writer's 
possession, is a curiosity, and would, if printed 
as it flowed from his pen, exemplify the esti- 
mate given of his mind in the preceding pages. 
With the exception of a few transpositions, re- 
trenchments in verbiage, and the occasional 
substitution of a word, the following may be 
considered as an allowable copy : — 

" Dear Brother Irving, the Prophet in London : 
" I am informed that you have prophesied 
that this island is bown to come to desolation ; 
but I think you should put a condition in your 
prophecy, viz., that if the people humble them- 
selves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways, 
then God will hear from heaven, will pardon 
their sins, and will heal the land. When the 
Prophet Jonah went to preach at Nineveh, the 
whole of the people of the city humbled them- 
selves, and prayed to God ; and God heard their 
prayer, and saved them from destruction. If 
there had been ten righteous souls in the cities 
of Sodom and Gomorrah, when they were 
destroyed, in which there were so many thou- 
sands of men, women, and children, they would 
not have suffered : and I fully believe, that if 
Abraham had pleaded on, the Lord would have 
saved the cities for his servant's sake ; but he 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 155 

gave up pleading, and then they were con- 
sumed. 

" But I have to inform you, sir, that there are 
more than ten righteous men in a city ; for the 
little one has become a thousand, and the small 
one a strong nation. We have our Moseses, 
and our Elijahs, and our Daniels in our island, 
who are all pleading. We have thousands of 
children training up to fear God and honour the 
king ; we have Bible societies, missionary 
meetings, and tract societies. These four in- 
stitutions are the Lord's ; and this island is 
the Lord's nursery, in which he raises up plants 
to plant the gospel in all the world, in order to 
be a witness unto all nations. Then the wicked- 
ness of the wicked shall come to an end — all 
shall know the Lord from the least to the 
greatest — nations shall learn war no more — and 
the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of 
God. 

" The pope prophesied, in years past and 
gone,* that he should get back the inheritance 
of his forefathers, be set upon the British throne, 
and have all the churches restored : but th^* 
will never come to pass ; God will never sufTei 
the pope to govern his nursery or plantation. 
We shall be governed by peaceable governors. 

* Samuel met with a man, in one of his journeys, who 
avowed his belief in the Roman Catholic creed, and his faith 
also in the restoration of our cathedrals and churches to the 
papal state. The public mind was considerably agitated at 
the time with the Catholic question, and the impression pro- 
duced by both led him, probably, to introduce his holiness to 
Mr. Irving. 



156 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

We shall have peace and plenty. The year 
that has passed has been a plentiful year for 
temporal food; and I trust before we see the 
end of this we shall find it to have been one of 
the best we ever had for spiritual food— that 
many will be brought to the knowledge of God 
— and that we shall see the downfall of in- 
fidelity. 

" I have known good men miss their way in 
my day, by their prophecies. The prophets 
foretold that there should be wars and rumours 
of wars in the latter days, and that nation should 
rise up against nation. These prophecies have 
been fulfilled. Nation has been up against 
nation. There has been such destruction as 
never was before. But these days were to be 
shortened for the elect's sake." Then follows 
his account of what he denominated Mr. Paw- 
son's prophecy, appending to it the case of 
another person, who, he observes, " prophesied 
that our island would be covered with war and 
bloodshed," and as a precautionary measure, 
" took his family to America, where he pur- 
chased a large estate. But," continues Samuel, 
" these were foolish prophecies, and false pro- 
phets, and I firmly believe yours will prove to 
be like them. While we continue to honour 
God, by sending the gospel to the poor perish- 
ing heathen, by keeping up our noble Bible and 
tract societies, and Sunday schools, we shall 
neither have pestilence nor famine, nor shall 
the sword be permitted to go through the land. 
And although there is at present a great stagna- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 157 

tion of trade and commerce, yet there is a re- 
medy for us, on certain conditions. It is not a 
prophet, nor an archangel, but the God that 
made the world, and all that therein is, who 
says, ' If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, 
or if I send a pestilence, if my people that is 
called by my name will humble themselves, 
and turn from their wicked ways, I will pardon 
their sins, and will heal their land.' This is the 
case. Persons are turning from their sins every 
day. Judgment is mixed with mercy. England 
is one of the first islands in the world. We 
have liberty of conscience — we have peace — 
and I hope trade and commerce will again re- 
vive, and that the suffering poor will have 
plenty of work, to enable them to earn bread 
for their families." 

There is not the slightest intention in the 
writer to bring the " Village Blacksmith" into 
the arena of controversy, with a view to place 
him in polemic array against Mr. Irving ; nor 
need Mr. Irving be ashamed of the association, 
as a few of Samuel's positions are as tenable 
as some of those with which he has favoured 
the world in his more recent publications. 
Proceeding on the correctness of Samuel's in- 
formation, which is only assumed for the oc- 
casion, his suggestion relative to the propriety 
of annexing conditions to threatening, and the 
support which he professes to derive from this 
suggestion from the case of Nineveh, is worthy 
of respect. His application of the subject to 
Britain, which he illustrates by the case of 



158 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Sodom and Gomorrah, showing the superiority 
of the one over the other — Britain with her 
multitude of intercessors actually engaged at 
the throne of grace, her Christian philan- 
thropy, as exhibited in her institutions, and 
the probable increase of conversions to God 
through the instrumentality of Sunday schools 
— and the cities of the plain without their " ten 
righteous" characters — deducing from the whole 
the probability of our safety, shows that he was 
in possession of correct Scriptural notions, 
though they often radiated in different direc- 
tions, like so many scattered rays of light, be- 
ing unable to employ them to the best advan- 
tage, and therefore not always falling with ful- 
ness on the point to be illuminated. The act, 
too, of pressing the late revolutionary wars into 
his service, which he considered to be no other 
than the " rumours of wars" mentioned in Scrip- 
ture, by way of showing the difference between 
ancient and modern prophetic pretensions — 
the one having been fulfilled, and the other 
remaining unaccomplished — and his attempt to 
rescue the prevailing commercial distress out 
of Mr. Irving's hands, that he might not avail 
himself of it in support of his predicted judg- 
ments, intimate a quickness of intellect, though 
unequal to that which precedes. But the letter 
is given chiefly with a view to show the manner 
in which his thoughts moved, when venturing 
beyond the precincts of a few brief sentences ; 
and for this purpose, too, as well as that of 
honouring the feelings of his heart, his address 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 159 

to his majesty George III. may be introduced. 
At the time when Bonaparte threatened to 
invade England, there were great " search- 
ings of heart." Samuel was among the suf- 
ferers in spirit. When fear was at its height, 
he retired into the fields, like the prophet to the 
summit of a solitary mountain, to intercede with 
his Maker ; and he there received what set his 
own mind at rest — an assurance that our shores 
would never be either printed or polluted by 
the foot of the enemy. From that period he 
went on his way rejoicing, and in the strength 
of his confidence, his patriotic and loyal feel- 
ing, he wrote the address just alluded to, the 
substance of which is as follows : — 

" O king, live for ever ! Let not your heart 
be troubled, nor your countenance be changed ; 
for that God whose church and cause you have 
defended, will also defend you, and deliver you 
from the lion and the bear, and also from this 
uncircumcised Philistine ; for he shall never set 
his foot upon English ground. And if your 
majesty the king wants a regiment of life- 
guards to defend your person, your property, or 
your nation, God will raise them up from the 
church of Christ, and I will go in the forefront ; 
and like Gideon's army, with their lamps in 
pitchers, one of these will chase a thousand, 
and two will put ten thousand to flight. And 
if your majesty the king wants any money to 
support or defend your person, your property, 
or your nation, I am now possessed of £600, 
and your majesty shall have every shilling of 



160 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

it. When I began the world, I had not a 
penny, nor a bite of bread to put into my mouth, 
and I will again begin the world as naked as at 
first. And that God whom I love and serve 
will never suffer the crown to be taken from the 
head of your majesty, till he shall crown you 
with immortality and eternal life." 

Whether the letter ever reached his majesty 
is doubtful, not only because of the medium 
through which it was conveyed, but from the 
known character of that venerable monarch ; as 
it is more than probable, that, from the novelty 
of the occasion, he would have condescended, 
not to accept the offer, but to pay respect to the 
generous emotions which emanated from the 
bosom of such a subject ; and the more so, as 
the name of Hick was not unfamiliar to the 
royal ear. Samuel had a brother-in-law,* who 
was groom in the stables at Windsor, and to 
whom his majesty paid personal attention. 
Having been absent from his post through indis- 
position, his majesty, on perceiving it, inquired, 
in his hasty manner, " Where is Hick ? Where 
is Hick?" When informed that he was ill, 
the royal inquiry was, " Has he had medical 
aid ?" instantly adding, " if not, let him have it 
immediately." But the sufferer died ; and Mr. 
Dawson observes, " I have been informed, that 
his widow was the object of his majesty's at- 
tention and bounty." Samuel, by means of his 
brother-in-law, had acquired that knowledge of 
his majesty's private character which inspired 
* His wife's brother, whose maiden name was Hick. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 161 

him with veneration. This feeling led him to 
Windsor, during his last visit to the metropolis : 
but of all the objects presented to the eye of a 
stranger, nothing fixed his attention so much 
as the house of his God ; and in that house, not 
any thing yielded such rapture as the cushion 
upon which the royal personage had been ac- 
customed regularly to perform his devotional 
exercises. On that cushion Samuel devoutly 
knelt ; and as he could throw his whole soul 
into that prayer, " Give the king thy judg- 
ments, O God ;" so he could as heartily add, 
" and thy righteousness unto the King's son :" 
and hence it was, that when George IIL re- 
signed his crown, he transferred his loyal affec- 
tion to George IV. 

While the letter shows the piety, the loyalty, 
and the liberality of its writer, together with the 
occasionally beautiful adaptation of Scriptural 
language and Scriptural metaphor to the sub- 
ject in hand, for which he was sometimes so 
happy, and which, in some instances, could not 
have been more felicitously introduced by our 
first divines, we are not less impressed with 
his contracted views, and amused with his 
notions of generalship. For though Roman 
history has familiarized us with an instance of 
one of its first characters having been sum- 
moned from the plough to figure in arms, yet 
we are not quite prepared to see Samuel throw- 
ing aside the leathern apron for regimentals — 
to see him brandishing the sword, heading a 
troop of soldiers, and cutting his way through 
11 



162 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the ranks of the enemy. His hand was better 
adapted to the grasp of the hammer than the 
musket, and his heart — which would have 
sickened at cruelty to a beetle — would have 
sooner led him to heal than to wound. The 
estimate he formed of his prowess was what 
would have suited his state when he silenced 
the clergyman in the presence of Mr. Burdsall. 
He would now have much sooner stripped, and 
turned up his shirt sleeves, in front of the anvil, 
to beat swords into ploughshares, and spears 
into pruning hooks, than have girded himself for 
the fight : and it is questionable whether he had 
any intention in the case, besides that of ap- 
pearing like the monks of Bangor before Ethel- 
frith, accoutred, not with " carnal" weapons, 
but with " the whole armour of God," which, 
in his estimation, was more fitted for " the 
pulling down of strong holds," than any other 
instrument that could be invented, whether by 
a Congreve or an Archimedes. If he had any 
views beyond those of combating the assailants 
with the weapons of faith and prayer, we can 
only marvel at the difference between him and 
John Nelson, whom he heard preach at Aberford 
cross, who, when impressed for a soldier, said to 
those who were decking him in military attire, 
"You may array me as a man of war, but I 
shall never fight." But whether Samuel had 
taken the field or not, he would have given the 
.£600 as cheerfully as he ever gave sixpence 
to a destitute widow. 

Leaving the great continental field, where 






THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 163 

the thunderbolt of war was seen turning up the 
soil like a ploughshare, and where the military 
tempest appeared to be gradually clearing the 
air and settling the political atmosphere — with 
which events it would have appeared ridiculous 
to name such an insignificant being as Samuel, 
had it not been for his loyal address — we shall 
direct our attention to a slight skirmish of 
another description, nearer his own homestead, 
and see how he was skilled in the military tactics 
requisite for the occasion. " I remember," he 
observes, "a great outpouring of the Lord's 
Spirit at Ledstone, near where I resided ; and 
in that town there lived a parliament- man, 
who was a justice of peace." This " parlia- 
ment-man" was no other than Michael Angelo 
Taylor, Esq., who has distinguished himself in 
the senate on several measures for the melio- 
ration of the metropolitan police, and different 
other questions. One evening during the re- 
vival referred to, Mr. T. was passing the place, 
which was licensed for preaching, and in which 
the people were met for public worship. On 
hearing an unusual noise, he stepped up to the 
door ; and not being over and above skilled in 
the science of salvation, or having his ear 
tuned for the music of penitential groans, he, 
according to the testimony of Samuel, " stamped 
and swore," declaring he would have them 
" all taken up," calling out meanwhile for a 
" constable."* Mr. T. addressed a farmer who 

* The reader is referred to a note at the close of these 
pages for some remarks which appeared in a respectable 



164 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

acted in that capacity, and told him he would 
have no such disturbance in the parish. A 
good sister, who was present, began to pray 
for Mr. T., repeating several times, " Lord, 
bless him." Mr. T., on the other hand, elevat- 
ing his voice to an unusual pitch, told her to 
cease her noise : " but she," says Samuel, " like 
the blind man, cried out the more." Mr. T., 
however, at length succeeded in " breaking up 
the meeting." This was a severe trial to 
Samuel, who says, " I went home, but could 
get very little rest. The next morning I went 
to our class-leader, and told him that I could 
not rest till I went to Mr. T. to inform him he 
had broken the laws of our land." His class- 
leader was Mr. Rhodes, who, partly to deter 
Samuel, from an impression of the possibility of 
the case, hinted that Mr. T. would commit him 
to the house of correction. Samuel replied, 

periodical, a few years back, when the writer found it ne- 
cessary to defend the same cause from an attack made upon 
it, in an article in the " British Critic," and also in a separate 
treatise, written professedly against the Wesleyan body. 
The closing observations, which have been since added, 
may not be characterized by that gravity which a more 
solemn and literary biographical subject would — to pre- 
serve it in proper keeping — have demanded ; but being in 
character in these pages, it has been judged proper to in- 
sert them. The writer, however, wishes it not to be under- 
stood, that he comes forward as the advocate of noise, but 
rather as an apologist and expositor ; for though he would 
find it difficult, in every instance, to tune his own ear to a 
love of adverse sounds, he thinks that his feelings ought to 
be under the guidance of his judgment — that the subject has 
been much misunderstood — and that great forbearance is 
due to inexperience, or, in other words, to religious child- 
hood 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 165 

" I have the Lord on my side, and the law on 
my side, and I do not fear the face of a man." 
His firmness gave confidence to Mr. Rhodes, 
who agreed to accompany him. They both set 
off, and arriving at Mr. T.'s before he had come 
down stairs in the morning, were ushered into 
the " servants' hall." There they remained, 
till summoned into the presence-chamber. Mr. 
T., on descending to breakfast, had been in- 
formed of their visit. On entering the room, 
he had, says Samuel, " a very stormy counte- 
nance." The substance of the conversation, 
as left on record, is as follows : — 

Mr. T. " Well, Hick, what do you want ?" 
Samuel. " I want, if you please, to worship 
God under my own vine and fig-tree, no man 
daring to make me afraid, or disturb me in the 
worship of God. And, sir, I am come to in- 
form you, as one of his majesty's peace-makers, 
that last night you broke the laws of the land, 
and that the law stands in force against you. 
But we, as a body of people, do not love law. 
We are determined, however, to have the 
liberty our king grants us. The place which 
we were worshipping in is from the king, as it 
is licensed : and I believe there is a double 
penalty for your breaking the law." 

Mr. T. " I know you very well ; you are in 
the habit of travelling from place to place to 
preach : but I have the outline of a bill, which 
will be brought into parliament, and which will 
at once put a stop to all such fellows, and pre- 
vent them from going about. I will make you 



166 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

remain in your own parish, and go to your own 
church." 

Samuel. " Bless the Lord ! sir, you cannot 
stop us. It is the work of God ; and unless 
you can prevent the sun from shining, you can- 
not stop it. You say you will make us go to 
our own parish church. It is more than three 
miles off. It is true, we have a chapel of ease ; 
but the minister comes to it only twice in the 
year : and we cannot live, sir, with such food 
as this :" that is, with so small a portion. 

Mr. T. " What, have you only two sermons 
preached in the year ?" 

Samuel. "No, sir; and he would not come 
then, only he cannot get his Easter dues with- 
out coming." 

Here the servant in attendance, and Mr. 
Rhodes, could support it no longer, but burst 
into a fit of laughter, and left the room. Mr. 
Taylor, who appeared not to have known that 
the place was licensed in which he was the 
night before, and to have assumed the character 
of sternness for the purpose of drawing Samuel 
out into conversation, called upon Mr. Rhodes 
to enter the room again, asking why he went 
out. Mr. R. apologized, and stated, that he 
could not refrain from laughing, and withdrew 
to avoid a breach of good behaviour. Mr. T. 
accosting him, said, " You know, Mr. Rhodes, 
the old man wants a license to preach. This 
I cannot grant in my individual capacity. But 
he and you may go to Bradford next Thursday ; 
ask for the clerk of the court, and tell him you 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 167 

want a license for a dissenting minister. He 
will there receive it ; and if, after that, any one 
should disturb either of you, inform me, and I 
will defend you." This was too much for 
Samuel to bear in silence ; and without suffer- 
ing Mr. R. to reply, he permitted that chord 
of the heart which had just been struck, to give 
out its fullest and wildest tones, saluting Mr. T. 
with, " Bless the Lord ! they give you a sore 
character in our country, but I think you are 
not so bad as they say you are." This, by a 
thousand men, would have been taken, as it 
might have been given, as an insult. But Mr. 
T., as he knew Samuel, had the good sense to 
give to it its real value, and passed it off in 
pleasantry. " After this," proceeds Samuel, 
" I believe he would have granted me any favour. 
He sent down to the farmer also, in whose 
house the meeting was held, and told him, if he 
was in want of any thing from his house or 
gardens, it should be at his service. So we 
see, when a man's ways please the Lord, he 
makes his enemies to be at peace with him." 

Samuel went too far in considering Mr. T. 
an enemy; for had he really been such, he 
would have pursued a different line of conduct. 
Simple, however, as the whole of this occur- 
rence was, sufficient matter arose out of it to 
attract the attention of the British senate ; for as 
the " two sermons" per annum, in a " chapel of 
ease," led, from the easy character of the labour, 
to an investigation of other instances of gross 
neglect, so it gave Mr. T. an opportunity of 



168 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

stating in the house the necessity there was for 
the ecclesiastical authorities to inquire, whether 
the different places belonging to the establishment 
were properly supplied with religious instruct- 
ed, noticing the case of which he was in- 
formed by Samuel, arguing from thence y that it 
was not 4 to be wondered that a " blacksmith" 
in Yorkshire, should apply to him for a license 
to authorize him to preach as a dissenting minis- 
ter. When one of the newspapers Was handed 
to Samuel, in which the fact was stated, and 
the allusion made, he was not a little elated, 
and in his simplicity could even connect with 
the circumstance, in a way in which no one 
besides himself could do, the " government 
churches," which were soon afterward erected, 
and would have as soon — for such was his 
knowledge of the politics and ecclesiastical 
history of the day — attributed every new edifice 
to that, as to any other cause. Though some 
of these goodly structures were not very well 
attended, he was far from viewing them as 
useless : " They will be ready," said he, " for 
the millennium, when it comes , for we shall 
want them then: 5 ' not that he really wished 
any other religious body to enjoy them ; but he 
was confident they were not erected in vain. 
He generally spoke respectfully of the Church 
of England, and indulged a pleasing hope that 
she would rise to be more holy, active, and 
useful, than she had ever been. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 169 



CHAPTER VIII. 

His power in prayer — Divine impressions — An afflicting 
providence — Remarkable answers to prayer— Familiar ex 
pressions in prayer to be avoided — Encounters a blacksmith 
— His usefulness — His meekness under persecution — Sin- 
gular method of self-defence against the aspersions of a 
clergyman — Musical festivals — Mr. Bradburn — Lovefeast — 
Perfection — Seasonable remarks — -The doctrine of sancti- 
rication maintained in opposition to a clergyman — Cheerful 
disposition — Indiscretionate zeal in a meeting of the Society 
of Friends. 

That which imparted real elevation of cha- 
racter to Samuel was, his strong faith, and his 
power with God in prayer : and here it is that 
he was seen rising out of the habiliments of the 
blacksmith, surrounded by the visitants, stunned 
with the din, and enveloped in the smoke of the 
smithy, like a being belonging to another world, 
gradually unfolding himself, or suddenly break- 
ing upon the spectators in the true spirit of an 
angel of light. A few instances have been ad- 
duced of his power in prayer on his own be- 
half; but he still has to be viewed in the cha- 
racter of a successful intercessor. 

He had an impression upon his mind one 
day, that he ought to go to the coal-pit, for 
what he termed " a load of sleek"* But hav- 
ing a tolerable stock in the smithy, he hesitated 
and attempted to suppress it. The impression 
was renewed, and — " Go, go," was reiterated, 
as by a voice from within. " I'll pray about 

* The refuse or smaller part of the coal, used in fur- 
naces, &c. 



170 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

it," said he to himself. But " go" was still the 
language which he seemed to hear, while en- 
gaged upon his knees. He rose and told his 
wife he was going for a load of " sleek." She, 
as was natural, opposed him, pointing to the 
heap in the smithy, as a substantial reason why 
he should stop at home. But his argument was 
in his heart, and to this he attended, yoking 
the horse to the cart, and driving off to the pit, 
without any thing to support his conduct, ex- 
cept the naked impression specified. On reach- 
ing the spot, a person exclaimed, in a state of 
great trepidation, " Ay, Sammy, you are well 
come ; such a one (mentioning the person's 
name) has been nearly killed, and we want 
you to pray with him!" The poor sufferer had 
just been brought up from the pit, when he 
arrived; and the persons around him were 
about to extract a piece of wood, which had 
fallen upon him, penetrated his shoulder, and 
forced its way, like the spear of Abner, through 
the opposite side of his body. On perceiving 
their intentions from their conduct, Samuel said, 
in a hurried tone, " Do not take it out ; if you 
do, he will die in a moment."* The spirit of 

* How he became possessed of this opinion, or whether 
he had entertained it any length of time, is difficult to state ; 
but it is not a little singular to find, that it is in consonance 
with the notions and practices of some of our ancestors, who, 
in tournaments and ancient combats, frequently permitted 
the shaft of death, which had been propelled through the 
body, to remain there for a short time, with a view to stanch 
the blood to a certain extent — when the wound was deemed 
mortal, till the person should be enabled to express his last 
will in the settlement of his affairs. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 171 

prayer was the element in which he breathed ; 
and for such employment he was always ready. 
He knelt by the side of the poor man, wrestled 
with God for his salvation, and obtained satis- 
factory evidence of an answer to the petitions 
he presented at the throne of grace. " I now 
saw," says he, " for what it was that I had to 
go to the pit." And yet, with this result, there 
are persons professing the Christian name who 
would denounce the impression as enthusiastic, 
and who would, together with the calamity, in- 
sert his being at the pit at that precise period 
in the chapter of accidents, which occupies, in 
their estimation, so large a share of the business 
of human life. Only preserve religion in the 
back ground, or abstract it entirely from the 
subject, and these persons will talk both 
seriously and poetically of the mind being 
darkened, like the sunny landscape, by a sudden 
cloud, auguring a coming tempest : and of such 
impulses deserving attention as being the hints 
of our guardian spirits that danger is impending. 
All this is allowable in verse, and the poet is 
admired for the sentiment ; while the heathen 
philosopher is permitted to descant upon it in 
prose : but the moment the man of God asserts 
the fact — from whom the others have received 
it, either directly or remotely, and afterward 
marred by lowering it — he must be sent through 
the world with the brand of an enthusiast upon 
his forehead ! 

A circumstance not less remarkable occurred 
at Pontefract — a place where Samuel was highly 



172 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

respected, and where he deeply interested him- 
self in the erection of a new chapel. It was 
agreed, in order to aid the collection at the 
opening, that each collector should deposite a 
sovereign in his box, and that the collectors 
should be changed each service. Samuel en- 
tered into the plan with his native ardour, and 
promoted, in various instances, its accomplish- 
ment. On recollecting the names of friends, 
who were likely to afford aid, he immediately 
proceeded to their residences, and accosted 
them : " Why, the friends are bown to open a 
new chapel in Pontefract : you intend to be 
there, don't yon, and to be a collector ?" To 
this exordium, he appended the plan, closing it 
with a personal application, — " You approve of 
it, don't you ?" In cases of approval, accom- 
panied with a doubt, whether there would be an 
opportunity to attend, he generally relieved 
them, by observing, " I will tell you what you 
must do ; you must give me a sovereign, and I 
will get some one to collect for you." Such 
was his success, by this mode of procedure, 
that, on the day of opening, he handed over to 
the treasurer nearly twenty pounds. On the 
morning, he took his seat previous to the com- 
mencement of the service in a pew near the 
pulpit. He had promised himself much enjoy- 
ment, and was just sipping of its streams, while 
glancing upon the collecting worshippers, 
when he suddenly became unaccountably dis- 
composed. He vacated his seat, and taking 
up his hat, directed his steps to the gallery, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 173 

where he placed himself by the side of a young 
lady in one of the front pews. It was instantly 
suggested, " Thou hast done it now, — perched 
in the front for every body to look at thee, — 
they will think it is nothing but pride that has 
led thee here." The chapel was now exceed- 
ingly crowded ; and no sooner was his- soliloquy 
ended, than the congregation was thrown into 
a state of the utmost confusion by an unfounded 
alarm respecting the safety of the building. The 
young lady who sat next him leaped on the top 
of the pew, and was in the act of precipitating 
herself into the body of the chapel, when 
Samuel, with a promptitude equalled only by 
his composure, prevented her, by taking her in 
his arms, exhorting her at the same time to " be 
still," saying, " I would rather die in a Methodist 
chapel than anywhere else." He now saw, 
as in the case of the poor collier, a reason for 
the feeling which induced him to leave his 
first seat, and occupy another of such pro- 
minence. An immortal spirit was in all proba- 
bility saved, in the first instance, from perdition ; 
human life, in the second, from a premature 
grave. The female is still living, and a mem- 
ber of the Wesleyan Society. 

In the course of a summer of excessive 
drought, a few years back, when the grain 
suffered greatly, and many of the cattle, es- 
pecially in Lincolnshire, died, Samuel was 
much affected. He visited Knaresborough, at 
which place he preached on the Lord's day. 
Remaining in the town and neighbourhood 



174 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

over the sabbath, he appeared extremely rest- 
less in the house in which he resided, during 
the wtiole of Monday. He spoke but little — 
was full of thought — now praying — now walk- 
ing about the room — next sitting in a crouching 
posture — then suddenly starting up, and going 
to the door, turning his eyes toward heaven, as 
if looking for some celestial phenomenon — 
when he would again return — groan in spirit — 
and resume his seat. The family, being im- 
pressed with his movements, asked him whether 
any thing was the matter with him, or whether 
he expected any person, as the occasion of his 
going to the door so frequently. " Bless you, 
barns" was his reply, "do you not recollect 
that I was praying for rain last night in the 
pulpit? and what will the infidels at Knares- 
borough think, if it do not come ? if my Lord 
should fail me, and not stand by me ? But it 
must have time : it cannot be here yet ; it has 
to come from the sea. Neither can it be seen 
at first ; the prophet only saw a bit of cloud, 
like a man's hand : by and by it spread along 
the sky. I am looking for an answer to my 
prayer — but it must have time." He continued 
in the same unsettled state — occasionally going 
out, and looking with intensity on the pure 
azure over his head; for a more unclouded 
heaven was rarely ever seen. Contrary to all 
external signs of rain, and contrary to the ex- 
pectations of all, except himself, the sky be- 
came overcast toward evening, and the clouds 
dropped the fatness of a shower upon the earth. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 175 

His very soul seemed to drink in the falling 
drops. The family grouped around him, like 
children around their father, while he gave out 
his favourite hymn — "I'll praise my Maker 
while I've breath ;" and after singing it with a 
countenance all a-glow through the sunshine of 
heaven upon his soul, he knelt down and prayed. 
All were overpowered : it was a season of re- 
freshing from the presence of the Lord. 

If this relation had concerned another man 
than the subject of the memoir, the biographer 
would have been incredulous enough to have sus- 
pended his judgment, — possibly to have doubted, 
— and would have been led to inquire, whether, 
by some particular signs, the person might not 
have prognosticated a change. But Samuel 
was too artless to be suspected — too sincere to 
practise impositions — and his knowledge was 
too circumscribed to subject him to the charge 
of being " weather-wise." He was unable to 
see so far as Columbus, who, in another case, 
astonished and preserved a portion of the in- 
habitants of the new world in awe, by being 
able to foretel, through his astronomical know- 
ledge, a meteorological appearance. Samuel 
had no weather-glass upon which to look ex- 
cept the Bible, in which he was taught to be- 
lieve and expect that for which he prayed; 
nothing on which he could depend but God, 
and his faith was set in God for rain. This, 
like some other instances which have been 
noticed, is a beautiful exemplification of the 
simplicity of Christianity, as it exists in its effects 



176 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

in an uncultivated mind ; the person receiving 
every fact of Scripture history as an undoubted 
truth of God, given for the encouragement, the 
conviction, and the instruction of all future ages, 
whether it refers to the improvement of the 
mass of mankind, or the individual. 

In perfect character with the preceding re- 
markable fact, connected with the element of 
water, is another, respecting the element of air, 
both of which may yet be attested by living wit- 
nesses; and which ought not to be beyond the 
reach of credibility, if we believe there is a 
God — that he has power over the works of his 
own hands — and that he employs the elements, 
not only as general sources of felicity, but on 
particular occasions unbinds them in their opera- 
tions, and lets them loose upon man, either as a 
special blessing or a special scourge, in order 
to prevent common good from being looked upon 
with an eye of indifference. Samuel was at 
Knottingly, a populous village in the neighbour- 
hood of Ferrybridge, in 1817, where he took 
occasion to inform his hearers, that there would 
be a love-feast at Micklefleld, on a certain day, 
when he should be glad to see all who were 
entitled to that privilege. He further observed, 
with his usual frankness and generosity, that he 
had two loads* of corn, and that they should be 
ground for the occasion. These comprised the 
whole of the corn left of the previous year's 
produce. When, therefore, he returned home, 

* A load of corn at Micklefield, signifies six strokes, 01 
three bushels. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 177 

and named his general invitation and intention, 
Martha, who had as deep an interest in it as 
himself, inquired very expressively : " And 
didst thou tell them, when all the corn was 
done, how we were to get through the remainder 
of the season, till another crop should be 
reaped ?" " To-morrow" alas ! rarely entered 
into Samuel's calculations, unless connected 
with the church. The day fixed for the love- 
feast drew near — there was no flour in the 
house — and the wind-mills, in consequence of 
a long calm, stretched out their arms in vain to 
catch the rising breeze. In the midst of this 
death-like quiet, Samuel carried his corn to the 
mill nearest his own residence, and requested 
the miller to unfurl his sails. The miller 
objected, stating that there was " no wind." 
Samuel, on the other hand, continued to urge 
his request, saying, " I will go and pray while 
you spread the cloth." More with a view of 
gratifying the applicant than of any faith he 
had in Him who holds the natural winds in his 
fists, and who answers the petitions of his 
creatures, the man stretched his canvass. No 
sooner had he done this, than, to his utter as- 
tonishment, a fine breeze sprung up — the fans 
whirled around — the corn was converted into 
meal — and Samuel returned with his burden, 
rejoicing, and had every thing in readiness for 
the festival. A neighbour who had seen the 
fans in vigorous motion, took also some corn to 
be ground ; but the wind had dropped, and the 
miller remarked to him, " You must send for 
12 



178 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH, 

Sammy Hick to pray for the wind to blow 
again." 

Few circumstances, perhaps, can be adduced? 
more characteristic of Samuel, than a remark 
which he made in reference to the man who 
" went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and 
fell among thieves," After commenting on the 
situation of the poor sufferer — for all was real 
history to Samuel, he glanced at the conduct of 
the Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan, 
Speaking particularly of the priest, he endea- 
voured to apologize for him as far as he con- 
scientiously could, by intimating that he might 
have been " poor," in consequence of priests 
not having such " big livings" then, as in the 
present day. Turning at length, however y 
upon his piety, he quaintly and pointedly re- 
marked, "Bad as the Levite was, the priest 
was the worst of the two ; for admitting him to 
have been without money, he might have said 
to the wounded man, ' Come, we'll have a bit 
of prayer together !' " There is a volume con- 
tained in this single sentence, on the habit of 
devotion, which Samuel constantly carried 
about with him ; and had it been a scene of real 
life, and himself one of the actors, he would 
have been seen sidling up to the sufferer, 
whether on the highway or at the market-cross, 
— afterward devoutly kneeling — and with up- 
lifted hands and heart, pleading with the Most 
High for healing and strength. 

His prayers were not restricted to man. He 
saw as great propriety in praying for the resto- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 179 

ration of cattle that might be afflicted with any- 
particular distemper, as in soliciting the divine 
blessing upon the fruits of the field, and the 
seasons of the year. Thus it was, on a par- 
ticular occasion, that he associated his own 
horse with the cow of a friend, in his devo- 
tions, both of which were unwell; — in every 
thing, in supplication and prayer, making his 
request known to the Lord. 

There were instances, however, of familiarity 
of expression, which, though not criminal in 
him, ought to be avoided ; and also something 
in his manner, which was calculated to disturb 
the solemnities of domestic worship. He was 
in a friend's house, where he was introduced to 
the company of a minister, the Rev. A. L., who, 
he had heard, was paying his addresses to a 
young lady, and to Mr. U., a solicitor. On Mr. 
U.'s name and profession being announced, he 
looked askance at him, as upon an object for 
which he might be charged for the bestowment 
of a passing glance, quickly turning away his 
head, and muttering, " Hem, a torney /" He 
was soon absorbed in thought ; and when urged 
to help himself to a glass of wine, he took it up, 
and, on applying it to his lip, as if the appari- 
tion of Mr. U. had shot quickly past him, he 
said, " From tornies and lawyers, good Lord, 
deliver us !" Mr. U., who knew to what re- 
flections the profession was subject, avoided any 
observation. The case, however, was not dis- 
missed : Samuel was called upon to go to 
prayer. After generalizing his petitions he 



180 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

took up each case separately, praying that Mr. 
A. L. might be happy enough to obtain " a good 
wife," as the marriage state was " the best." 
He next prayed for the conversion of Mr* U., 
saying, " Lord, save this torney. What he is 
thou knowest, — I know not ; but when he is 
saved, he will not charge folk so much money 
for their jobs. Thou hast saved an attorney at 
Longpreston, and he gets as good a living as 
any of them. Lord, save this man." After 
this, he proceeded to pray for the family, min- 
gling, as is too often the case, rebuke, exhorta- 
tion, Sf'c., with prayer. This is not the most 
" excellent way :" besides, cowards very often 
avail themselves, under the guise of devotion, of 
letting off their bad feeling against their fellow 
Christians in this " way," by praying at them, 
instead of supplicating mercy for them. In 
Samuel, it was a weakness inseparable from 
his nature. Ill will had no place in him; and 
his native -courage never failed him, as the 
following circumstance goes to prove. 

A person of his own trade, who resided a 
few miles from Howden, entered the place 
where he was preaching, in a state of inebria- 
tion, and made some disturbance. Samuel, 
and some of the people, expostulated with him, 
but without effecting any good end. Finding 
that gentle means failed, he went up to him, 
and by his own masculine grasp, forced him to 
the door. But this, alas ! was a greater expen- 
diture of peace, than a display of strength. 
He felt " something wrong within," he observed, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 181 

and could find no rest, on his return from wor- 
ship. He made his case known to God, and 
wrestled — as though he had been the greater 
criminal of the two — till he recovered his peace. 
This being obtained, he retired to sleep. The 
subject, however, was not dismissed from his 
mind. When he rose in the morning, he found 
that he could not be perfectly composed in his 
spirit, till he went to the man, to ask pardon ; 
for though he had settled the dispute between 
God and his conscience, he knew there was 
something due to the sinner, who might draw 
unfavourable inferences from his example. The 
man was ashamed of his conduct, and could 
not but admire the spirit of Samuel, who em- 
braced the opportunity of seriously conversing 
with, and praying for him. Not only were good 
impressions made upon the mind of the ag- 
gressor, but his wife, who was under deep 
conviction of sin, entered, during that prayer, 
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
When he only was concerned, and the in- 
terruption of others was out of the question, 
Samuel could, on the other hand, sustain any 
hardship, any insult, with exemplary meekness 
and forbearance ; and his strongest graces were 
often put to the test. A young lady, who had 
been known to him from her childhood, and 
whose palfrey had lost a shoe, called at his 
shop to have it replaced. She appeared de- 
licate. He looked compassionately upon her, 
and asked, " Dost thou know, barn, whether 
thou hast a soul ?" Startled with the question, 



182 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

she looked in return ; but before she was per- 
mitted to reply, he said, " Thou hast oue, 
whether thou knowest it or not ; and it will live 
in happiness or misery for ever." These, and 
other remarks, produced serious reflections. 
Her father perceived from her manner, on her 
return home — her residence being not far from 
Samuel's dwelling — that something was prey- 
ing upon her spirits. She told him the cause : 
" What," he exclaimed, " has that old black- 
smith been at thee, to turn thy head ? but I will 
whack (beat) him." So saying, he took up a 
large stick, similar to a hedge-stake — left the 
house — posted off to Samuel's residence — found 
him at the anvil— and without the least inti- 
mation, fetched him a heavy blow on the side, 
which, said Samuel, when relating the circum- 
stance, " nearly felled me to the ground," adding, 
" and it was not a little that would have done 
it in those days." On receiving the blow, he 
turned around, and said, " What art thou about, 
man ? what is that for ?" Supposing it to be 
out of revenge, and that religion was the cause 
of it, he made a sudden wheel, and lifting up 
his arm, inclined the other side to his enraged 
assailant, saying, " Here, man, hit that too." 
But either his courage failed him, or he was 
softened by the manner in which the blow was 
received ; beholding in Samuel a real disciple 
of Him, who said, " Whosoever shall smite thee 
on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." 
He then left him ; and Samuel had the happi- 
ness of witnessing the progress of religion in 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 183 

the daughter. Some time after this, the person 
himself was taken ill, and Samuel was sent for. 
He was shown into the chamber, and looking 
on the sick man, he asked, " What is the matter 
with thee ? art thou bown to die ?" He stretched 
out his arm to Samuel, and said, " Will you 
forgive me?" Not recollecting the circum- 
stance for the moment, Samuel asked, u What 
for? I have nothing against thee, barn, nor any 
man living." The case being noticed, the 
question was again asked, " Will you forgive 
me ?" " Forgive thee, barn ? I tell thee I 
have nothing against thee ! But if thou art about 
to die, we will pray a bit, and see if the Lord 
will forgive thee." Samuel knelt by the side 
of the couch, and the dying man united with 
him : and from the penitence, fervour, and gra- 
titude which he manifested, there was hope in 
his death. The daughter continued an object 
of his solicitude ; she grew up to womanhood, 
— became a mother, — and he afterward exulted 
to see her and two of her daughters members 
of the Wesleyan Society. Four conversions 
are here to be traced, in regular succession, 
and attributable apparently to a word fitly and 
seasonably spoken, by one of the weak things of 
this world, becoming mighty through God. 

Samuel appeared, in many cases, to have 
the power of accommodating his conduct to the 
characters and occasions which demanded his 
attention, and that too in a way which his 
mental faculties would scarcely warrant; for 
while he would employ muscular force in a 



184 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

case where the intellect was inspired by the 
abuse of intoxicating liquors, and bear with 
meekness the arm of flesh upon himself, for 
righteousness' sake, he would at the same time 
defend himself against the tongue of slander, 
and subdue, by Christian means, any improper 
feeling he might perceive in the professors of 
Christianity themselves. A singular instance 
of self-defence occurred, in the course of one 
of his journeys. He was returning home by 
way of Aberford, in a stage coach. A clergy- 
man, and some ladies of fashion, were his com- 
panions. They were on their way to the grand 
musical festival held in York Minster. The 
clergyman expatiated on the delights of the oc- 
casion, the innocence* of such enjoyments, 

* An article in the Christian Observer of 1821, p. 250, of 
which the following is an extract, demands attention ; and 
the more so, as, from the medium of publication, it shows the 
view which the evangelical part of his brethren take of the 
subject : 

" It appears to me that it is not lawful for Christians to 
attend a concert of sacred music in a church for charitable 
purposes, either as respects the performances, the per- 
formers, or the place. Music is, strictly speaking, ' sacred' 
only when employed in the worship of God, of which the 
song of praise and thanksgiving forms one of the most de- 
lightful parts. Its animating and elevating influences many 
Christians can abundantly testify, who have sometimes, 
when joining a large congregation in one united chorus, been 
almost ready to imagine that they caught the faint echo of 
those immortal strains which cherubim and seraphim pour 
forth in honour of the celestial King. But of the performers 
of these public oratorios it seems almost impossible, even for 
that charity which hopeth all things, not to fear, that with 
them the prayer of penitence, or the glow of gratitude, the 
rapture of hope, or the triumph of faith, are nothing more 
than idle words — a solemn mockery of Him who demands 
the homage of the heart, and declares that he ' will not hold 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 185 

and the benevolence of the object. He ob- 
served, that he knew of no class of persons 
who would venture to hazard an objection 
against such amusements, except a few " cant- 
ing Methodists." He then took occasion to 
launch out some violent invectives against the 
body, insisting on their incapacity to form a 
judgment in such cases, from the circumstance 
of the members belonging to the lowest classes 

him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Their object is 
gain, and that of their auditors amusement. 

" The worship of God is not for a moment in the thoughts 
of the assembly : yet for this express purpose, and this alone, 
was the house of God prepared. It is written in the Old 
Testament, and the obligation of the precept is confirmed by 
the authority of our Saviour in the New, ' My house shall 
be called of all nations a house of prayer :' and did he who 
once drove the buyers and sellers out of the Jewish temple 
now dwell among us in a human form, we can, I think, 
scarcely imagine that the votaries of pleasure would be re- 
garded by him with a more lenient eye than the lovers of 
gain. To buy and sell is lawful, and so may music be ; but 
it is not lawful to desecrate the sanctuary of God by applying 
it to any secular purpose whatever. 

" To the inquiry, ' Is it lawful for Christians to attend a 
performance of music of a moral tendency, mixed with 
sacred or of sacred only, within the walls of a theatre V I 
again answer, No. If in the former instance the perform- 
ance be a profanation of the place, in this the performance 
is polluted by the place. And the most strenuous advocates 
for theatrical exhibitions cannot deny that they are insepara- 
bly attended by a fearful train of incidental evils, all of which 
remain in equally active and equally destructive operation, 
whether the audience be attracted by the genius of Handel 
or Shakspeare. 

" The natural tendency of music is, to cheer the spirits 
when oppressed by study or fatigue, and to soothe the tem- 
per irritated by the little vexations of life. It supplies a 
never-failing source of innocent recreation, and generally 
proves an additional bond of family attachment. Every ad- 
vantage, however, which music has to bestow, may be ob- 
tained in private. Should it therefore be conceded, that it 



186 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

of society, finally denouncing them as a set of 
hypocrites and vagabonds. Samuel, who had 
hitherto avoided obtruding his remarks upon 
the party, could brook it no longer. He con- 
sidered himself implicated in the general charge, 
and his spirit rose indignantly at it: " Sir," said 
he, " I am a Methodist. I am going to the 
place where I was born, and where I am well 
known ; and I will make you prove your words, 

is lawful for Christians to attend the concerts of miscel- 
laneous music performed in the Hanover-Square rooms or 
elsewhere, I think it must be maintained that it is by no 
means expedient to do so. 

" If it be possible that these musical entertainments rank 
among those ' pomps and vanities' which we pledged our- 
selves by our baptismal covenant to renounce — if they have 
any tendency to make the every-day duties and occupations 
of life comparatively insipid — if by this indulgence we tread 
upon the frontier line which separates the lawful enjoyment 
from the unlawful compliance — if by thus advancing to the 
brink of a precipice, we become liable to fall headlong in 
some unguarded moment — or though we can tread the dizzy 
height in safety, should others, following our example, 
stumble and fall — where is the Christian that can hesitate 
an instant between the gratification of an hour and the risk 
of incurring any one of these awful possibilities ? It is always 
dangerous to be conformed to this world — always safe to 
deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow our Re- 
deemer. It would be less inconsistent for the philosopher 
to covet the toys of infancy, than it is for the member of 
Christ, the child of God, and the inheritor of the kingdom 
of heaven, anxiously to desire even the most elegant and 
refined of the pleasures of sense. He should ever remember 
that he is not his own. His fortune, his time, his talents, 
his influence, his example, must all be devoted to the glory 
of God. Remembering the exhortation of our Lord, ' Watch 
and pray, lest ye enter into temptation,' he desires not to 
widen the narrow path which leadeth unto life eternal, but 
to obtain grace to pursue it with patient perseverance ; know- 
ing that so only shall ' an entrance be administered unto him 
abundantly of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' " 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 187 

sir." The clergyman was a little confounded 
by this sudden burst of expression, and had no 
expectation of being so suddenly and uncere- 
moniously subpcenaed to appear as a witness in 
his own defence. It was in vain to attempt the 
hackneyed method of parrying off the reflec- 
tion by exempting the present company. The 
character of the body was as dear to Samuel 
as his own ; and he continued to bore the 
reverend gentleman, till the coach stopped at 
the door of the inn at Aberford. The inn- 
keeper was in immediate attendance, when 
Samuel and the clergyman alighted, the latter 
being little aware — as under a contrary im- 
pression he would have probably retained his 
inside berth — that the subject would be again 
agitated. Samuel accosted the master of the 
house, with no common earnestness and gesticu- 
lation, saying, " You know me, don't you ?" and 
before he had time to receive a distinct reply in 
the affirmative, pressed nearly into the same 
breath, the grand question, of which the other 
was only the precursor, — " Am I a hypocrite or 
a vagabond ?" " No, Samuel," was the reply : 
" you are known all around here, as an honest, 
hard-working man." To this Samuel responded, 
" I work for all I have, pay every body their 
own, and get nothing for preaching." He then 
pointed to the clergyman, and recapitulated 
what he had said. The innkeeper, not know- 
ing the cause of Samuel's interrogatories before, 
and seeing a probable customer in the clergy- 
man, was not very anxious to proceed with his 



188 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

answers ; and the clergyman, unwilling to con- 
firm his delinquency by retiring, stood a short 
time. Samuel's earnest appeals in the mean 
time attracted attention ; the people thickened 
around them, in front of the inn ; he proceeded 
to dwell on the charges, and to point to* the 
clergyman, as going to spend his time and his 
money at the concert. The clergyman found 
himself so much annoyed by the looks, the 
jokes, and remarks of the crowd, who encour- 
aged Samuel in his zeal for character, that he 
was glad when the horses were changed, and 
he*found himself safely seated by the side of 
the ladies, reaping instruction, no doubt, from 
the event, though not much enamoured with the 
uncourteous manner in which his fellow-travel- 
ler had defended himself. 

Though the clergyman's opinion of the low- 
bred character of the Methodists was not likely 
to be much improved by the specimen with 
which he had just been favoured, yet it was 
only the rougher side of Samuel's integrity of 
which he had a view, and which his own rasp- 
ing had raised. Samuel was much better quali- 
fied to repress and correct improper feeling, than 
to combat erroneous notions. He attended a 
lovefeast in the Wakefield circuit, when Mr. 
Bradburn was stationed there. Several of the 
good people were in the habit of giving out a 
verse of a hymn before they narrated their 
Christian experience, by way of tuning their 
spirits for the work. This was prohibited by 
Mr. Bradburn, not only as a reflection upon 



i 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 189 

himself, being both authorized and competent 
to conduct the service, but as an improper ap- 
propriation of the time which was set apart for 
speaking. Samuel, either forgetting the pro- 
hibition, or being too warm to be restrained 
within its limits, gave out a verse. Mr. Brad- 
burn was instantly in his majesty, and with one 
of his severest and worst faces, looked at Sam- 
uel, who stood up in the congregation and sung 
alone, no one daring to join him — prefacing his 
rebuke with one of his singularly extravagant 
remarks, — " Where is the person that would 
not come out of a red hot oven, to hear such a 
man as you sing?" then proceeding to make 
such observations as he thought proper. Sam- 
uel, supposing the rebuke to have been given in 
an improper spirit, went into the vestry after 
service to settle matters. Offering to shake 
hands with Mr. B., who was not in one of his 
most complacent moods, he was saluted with — 
" What, are you the man that persisted in sing- 
ing, after I peremptorily forbid it ?" " Ye — ye 
— yes, sir," said Samuel ; " but I hope you will 
forgive me, Mr. Bradburn :" and without wait- 
ing to see how the request was taken, he was 
in an instant upon his knees among the people. 
Those around followed his example, and last of 
all, Mr. B. knelt by his side, who found that it 
would scarcely look decorous to stand alone. 
Every heart was touched with Samuel's sim- 
plicity and fervour ; and when he concluded 
prayer, Mr. B., with a full heart, and with all 
the magnanimity and generous flow of spirit he 



190 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

possessed, stretched out his hand, familiarly 
saying, " There, my brother ; this is the way — 
to keep paying off as we go on." 

Though he often overcame opposing feelings 
by prayer, for which he was better qualified 
than for holding a long parley on opinion ; yet 
on subjects proposed by a querist, he would 
change two or three sharp rounds on a contro- 
verted point. " I have often been struck," says 
Mr. Dawson, " at the promptness and propriety 
of his replies to persons who have proposed 
objections and questions to him upon particular 
subjects, and in peculiar cases. He manifest- 
ed some astonishing gleams of sanctified satire, 
when directed to a person or a subject, which 
penetrated deep into the heart ; while sparkles 
of holy wit would touch the risible faculties, 
and thrill a delight through the soul of the 
hearer, which neither debased his understand- 
ing nor his affections. A ray of light would 
sometimes dart from him in a moment, which 
would instantly scatter the shades and remove 
the scruples from an inquiring mind. Of this 
peculiarity of talent he himself was insensible : 
all was spontaneous and natural.". While this 
citation comes in as evidence of what has been 
stated, it may be further illustrated by other 
striking instances of quickness of perception, 
discrimination, and point. 

Having business to transact which bore hard 
upon his patience, and seeing the person who 
was agent for him in the transaction going 
about with the utmost deliberation, with coun- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 191 

tenance and temper as serene as trie unruffled 
' lake, he seemed uncomfortable in the presence 
of such superiority ; and yet, unwilling to un- 
christianize himself, as well as sensible of the 
kindly feeling he possessed toward the persons 
who were the occasion of his exercises, he 
said, " We are both perfect ; you are perfect in 
patience, and I am perfect in love" Though the 
theology of this is questionable, as a general 
position, yet in its particular application to 
Samuel, there is more truth in it than at first 
might appear ; for if he excelled in any one 
branch of " the fruit of the Spirit," it was in love. 
To a gentleman labouring under great ner- 
vous depression, whom he had visited, and who 
was moving along the streets as though he was 
apprehensive that every step would shake his 
system in pieces, he was rendered singularly 
useful. They met ; and Samuel, having a deep- 
er interest in the soul than the body, asked, 
" Well, how are you getting on your way to 
heaven V 9 The poor invalid, in a dejected, half- 
desponding tone, replied, " But slowly, I fear ;" 
intimating that he was creeping along only at a 
snaiPs pace. " Why, bless you, barn" returned 
Samuel, " there were snails in the ark." The 
reply was so earnest, so unexpected, and met 
the dispirited man so immediately on his own 
ground, that the temptation broke away, and he 
rose out of his depression. It was a resurrec- 
tion to his feelings ; inferring, that if the snail 
reached the ark, he too, " faint, yet pursuing," 
might gain admission into heaven. 



192 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Perhaps one of his happiest conquests in 
oral controversy was obtained over the Rev. 
K., of Leeds, a gentleman of great shrewd- 
ness and learning. They were both on board 
a Selby steam-packet, going down the river 
toward Hull. Samuel was walking the deck, 
and humming over a hymn-tune, which ap- 
peared to attract the attention of Mr. K., who 
abruptly opened out upon him on the evils of 
Methodism, suspecting him to belong to that 
body, from the character of the music. He in- 
sisted on the mischief it had done by the tenets 
it propagated, particularly instancing the doc- 
trine of sanctif cation, for which, he contended, 
there was no foundation. Though Samuel did 
not appear to be personally known to Mr. K., 
yet Mr. K. was not unknown to him ; to whom 
he instantly returned, " See that you never read 
the Church Prayers again, for I am sure there 
is full sanctifi cation in them." " No such 
thing," was the reply. " What," said Samuel, 
" do you not pray that the Lord would cleanse 
the thoughts of the heart by the inspiration of 
the Holy Spirit ? See that you do not read 
that, sir, next Sunday." Mr. K. finding himself 
pressed from this high quarter, and partly con- 
ceding the principle, by flying to what he 
deemed its effects, asked, " What good has the 
doctrine done ?" gliding, as a diversion of the 
subject, into the general topic of Methodism 
again ; demanding, " What have the Methodists 
effected ? Bad women are on the increase ; 
Leeds is swarming with them." " How is 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 193 

that ?" inquired Samuel : " I was in Leeds the 
other week, Lnd never met with one." "I 
know," rejoined Mr. K., " that there never were 
so many as there are at present." " Happen 
so," replied Samuel, as though he had reached 
the end of both his patience and his thoughts : 
" it may be that you are better acquainted with 
them than me, sir." This was quantum sujficit, 
and Mr. K. left him to hum over his tune to the 
remainder of the hymn. Pungent, however, 
as the last remark may have seemed, it would 
have been found, if Samuel had been interro- 
gated upon it, that there was as much of con- 
cession intended for superior knowledge, as 
there was of any indirect reflection upon moral 
character ; and ten minutes would scarcely 
have elapsed, till — from other subjects occupy- 
ing his thoughts — he would have been as in- 
sensible to what had passed as though he had 
never exchanged a syllable with the gentleman 
that spoke to him. 

Singing was one of his favourite employ- 
ments, both in company and alone. Engaged 
thus, as he was riding along the road once, in 
company with Mr. Dawson, and another friend 
or two, he seemed lost occasionally to the soci- 
ety of his fellow-travellers. He had got hold 
of a tune which was in use among the Ranters, 
so called. This he continued to hum over, in 
the same way as when he walked the deck, ex- 
claiming at short intervals, " Bless the Lord for 
a fine shower !" The rain continued more co- 
pious in its descent ; — his companions buttoned 
13 



194 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH, 

up, and turned their sides to the weather f sink- 
ing the lower part of the face into the collars 
of their coats ; — Samuel sung on, sensible only 
of his mercies, again exclaiming, u Bless the 
Lord for a fine shower !" One of his compan- 
ions, as much annoyed with the tune as by the 
rain, objected to it as an indifferent one, "Sing 
a better, then," said Samuel, turning his head 
as suddenly from him as he had directed it to- 
ward him, still singing and keeping time to the 
amble of the horse, facing the weather, and 
praising the Lord for watering the earth. The 
friend again complained of the tune, and again 
solicited another. " Sing yourself," said Sam- 
uel. " I have no voice for the work r " was the 
reply. "Dent complain," rejoined Samuel, 
" of what you cannot mend," again directing 
his face to the shower, and his mind to the 
Giver of it, absent every now and then to all 
companionship, and as happy, though satu- 
rated with the teeming contents of the clouds, 
as if he had been sheltered under his own 
roof. 

Though he possessed the power of occasion- 
ally accommodating himself to existing circum- 
stances, and particular companies,, isolated in- 
stances occurred, when he was perfectly lost 
to the respect due to the habits and feelings of 
others. He was led by inclination to a public 
meeting of the Society of Friends, and took his 
seat in the midst of them. This was an ordi- 
nance> and an assembly, for which he was the 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 195 

least fitted, either by nature or by habit ; and 
although he had often sung — 

" A solemn reverence checks our songs, 
And praise sits silent on our tongues," 

he never till now knew what it was to live un- 
der the restraint of praise. " The songs of 
Zion" were in his heart, in which he was sing- 
ing, and making melody to the Lord, as many 
of the worshippers around him might have been 
employed : but having read of Paul and Silas, 
under less agreeable circumstances, adding to 
the music of the heart the variations of the 
voice and the motion of the lips — rising in their 
strains till " the prisoners heard them," and em- 
bracing the notion that praise only receives its 
perfection in utterance, he either so far forgot 
himself, or was otherwise glowing with such an 
intensity of feeling while musing, that the long 
silence observed in the commencement became 
insupportable. He took his hymn-book from 
his pocket, and starting on his feet — his huge 
figure receiving elevation from the seated and 
lowering position of those around him, said, 
" Come, let us sing a verse or two." Neither 
the voice nor the language belonged to the 
place ; a number of eyes were instantly fixed 
upon him ; and strange feelings were stirring, 
till a venerable man arose, who knew him, and 
accosted him, saying, " Samuel, sit thee down, 
and wait" The mandate was obeyed, without 
reply or murmur ; and all was suddenly as still 



196 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

as before. After waiting some time in silence, 
during almost every minute of which Samuel 
expected some one to rise and address the as- 
sembly, but no attempt being made, he again 
bounded from his seat, under an impression 
that prayer might be more acceptable than 
praise, and said, " Let us kneel down, friends, 
and pray a bit." Just as he was in the attitude 
of kneeling, the same venerable man stood up, 
and with great solemnity again addressed him, 
" Samuel, sit thee down, and wait till the 
Spirit moves thee." Less docile than before, 
Samuel returned, " We Methodists think it very 
well, if we can have the Spirit for asking;" re- 
ferring with great readiness to that passage of 
Scripture, " If ye then, being evil, know how 
to give good gifts unto your children : how 
much more shall your heavenly Father give 
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" Though 
Samuel was correct in doctrine, he was here 
erroneous in conduct, and had forgotten his own 
dislike of interruptions in divine service, when 
worshipping God agreeably to the dictates of 
his conscience, under his own "vine, and 
under his fig-tree." 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 197 



CHAPTER IX. 

His self-denial — Sympathy for the poor — Graticude for 
mercies — Early rising — Singular band-meeting — The best 
way of beginning the day — His conduct in the families he 
visited — Bolton — Ratcliffe Close — Often abrupt in his man- 
ners — His views of proprietorship — A genuine Wesleyan — 
An attempt to purchase him — His character as the head of 
a family — Gives up business — Preaching excursions — Visits 
Rigton — Providential supply — His public addresses — De 
light in his work — E. Brook, Esq. — Denby Dale — Prosperi- 
ty of the work of God — A new chapel — Samuel visits Roch- 
dale — Rises superior to his exercises — takes a tour into dif- 
ferent parts of Lancashire — Great commercial distress — 
Liberality of P. E. Towneley, Esq. — Meeting for the relief 
of the poor — Samuel's return home — Visits different parts 
of the York circuit — Revival of religion — Persecution. 

As Samuel had obtained the grace which 
enabled him to " rejoice evermore," he seemed 
to create a paradise in every circle in which he 
moved. Whenever he was oppressed — which 
was rarely the case — it was either on account 
of the wants and miseries of others, or occa- 
sioned by an overwhelming sense of his own 
mercies. Thus, on being urged to take more 
food at table, he has been heard to say, in sea- 
sons of commercial and agricultural distress, 
" O no : I cannot take more white I think of 
so many around me nearly starving for want of 
bread." 

So, also, on being entertained out of the or- 
dinary line, in the house of a friend, his grati- 
tude, like the thermometer, rose to the highest 
point. He was at Pontefract during the bustle 
of an election, and was lodged in the house of 



198 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

Mr. M., a member of the Society of Friends, 
whose family was strongly attached to Samuel. 
He was honoured with the best fare, the best 
room, and the best bed, the last of which was 
unusually high. On being asked the next day, 
how he liked his lodgings, he said, "Why, 
barn, I have been crying half the night ; I never 
was in such a bed before ; I had to take a chair 
to get into it. O how I wept ; for I thought 
my Lord never had such a bed as that" This 
was properly " the joy of grief." Samuel dwelt 
much upon his Saviour ; the " servant" and the 
" Lord" afforded him some amazing contrasts, 
and drew forth the finest feelings of his soul. 

But he had his " songs in the night," and his 
morning carols, as well as his tears. " He was 
in the habit," Mr. Dawson observes, " of rising 
very early in the morning, (about four o'clock,) 
and of partially dressing himself, when he 
bowed his knees before his divine Father, 
praying first for the church in general, next for 
particular characters, and lastly for special 
cases. He then sung a verse of a hymn — re- 
tired to bed again — and after a short time arose, 
and began the day with praise and prayer." 
The occasion of this systematic proceeding is 
known to few. Samuel had a band-mate, with 
whom he met for some time, and to whom he 
was much endeared. Four o'clock in the 
morning was the hour of meeting ; and this 
was selected, not only because of its tranquil- 
lity, but because it prevented self-indulgence. 
His companion died, and he mourned his loss 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 199 

like the stock-dove, whose mate had just sat 
by his side on the same bough, and had dropped 
off through the hand of the fowler. The hour 
and the ordinance were held sacred by the sur- 
vivor. He rose at the appointed time — sung — 
prayed — unfolded the secrets of his heart to 
God, as he was wont to do with his Christian 
friend — thus going regularly through the ser- 
vice, as though the dead were still alive, and 
by his side, holding converse with him. This 
is one of those mementos of Christian friend- 
ship which rarely occur in the same form ; 
but while its singularity excites the surprise of 
some, its piety will secure the admiration of 
others, and amply atone for any peculiarity in 
its manner. Those, only, perhaps, will indulge 
the laugh, who, nevertheless, have their anni- 
versaries, Sfc, but support them in another way, 
by toasting each other over the maddening bowl, 
and cheering each other with the speech and 
the song, till they become objects of pity, 
rather than subjects for imitation. 

The summary account of his matins, as given 
by Mr. Dawson, is exemplified by a particular 
case, as recorded by the family of P. Rothwell, 
Esq., of Sunning Hill, Bolton, in whose house 
Samuel at one time resided for the space of 
nearly three weeks. " He frequently rose," it 
is remarked, " in the night to pray. On one of 
those occasions he was heard singing a hymn, 
after which he pleaded with God that he might 
enjoy a closer walk with Jesus, and his prayer 
was soon turned into praise. He repeated 



200 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

several times, ' O that I could praise thee ! O 
that I could praise thee as I would! — but I 
shall praise thee again when I pass over Jor- 
dan ! Glory! glory! glory!' He then prayed 
for his family, the family he was visiting, the 
church of God, and for the world at large. He 
appeared to feel much while pleading for sin- 
ners, and then was borne away in transport for 
redeeming mercy. Some time after he rose 
from his knees, his language was, * Glory ! 
glory !' '? He has been known on some of these 
occasions to indulge in a sublimity of thought 
of which at other times he was incapable, and 
which — taken in connection with the whole man 
would have fixed upon him, by some gifted be- 
ings, had they overheard him, much more ap- 
propriately than ever was applied to Goldsmith, 
the epithet of " an inspired idiot," and he would 
have stood a fair chance of being deified among 
the Mohammedans. 

Such a beginning was an excellent prepara- 
tion for the duties, the exercises, and the mer- 
cies of the day ; and it will be generally found, 
that its close will correspond with its com- 
mencement. The man who permits God to 
hear his voice in the morning will not himself 
be silent, nor yet mourn an absent God in the 
evening. These " morning communings" se- 
cured attention to " stated times" for retirement 
through the day, when he entered into his 
closet before his Father, who sees in secret, 
and rewards openly ; and this is the secret of 
that charm which was thrown around his spirit 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 201 

and demeanour in social life. He came forth 
in the morning, like the sun from his chambers 
in the east — refreshed and refreshing. Happy 
in himself, he chased away melancholy from 
the soul, and lighted up a sunshine in the coun- 
tenances of those with whom he conversed. 
" No family," said a friend, in whose house he 
had been resident some weeks — " No family 
could be miserable with whom he lived, because 
he laboured to make every person around him 
happy." Mrs. Bealey, of RatclifFe Close, near 
Bury, in Lancashire, a lady well qualified to 
appreciate real worth, whether religious, moral, 
or intellectual, and under whose hospitable roof 
Samuel was entertained nearly two months, ob- 
served to Mr. Dawson, " That he interested 
himself in the welfare of the whole family, as 
though he had been united to them by the ten- 
der ties of nature. He participated in all their 
pleasures, as well as increased them, and was 
rendered truly useful to the men and children 
employed in the works. He sympathized also 
with persons with whom he was acquainted, in 
their losses in cattle or trade, as though he had 
been the loser himself." It was the love and 
joy within, which, as is remarked elsewhere 
by Mr. Dawson, " gave a beam to his eye, a 
smile to his countenance, a tone to his voice, 
and an energy to his language, which melted 
and attracted every heart that came within the 
sphere of his influence." 

This attractive influence was not always 
sudden, but it was rarely otherwise than cer- 



202 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



tain. On his first visit to the residence of a 
gentleman in Lancashire, to whom till then he 
was personally unknown, he was directed to 
the house accidentally. He rode up to the door 
of that gentleman, and after having seen his 
horse put under the care of his servant, he en- 
tered the house, where he was introduced into 
the parlour. Without either letter or person 
to introduce him, and with no other passport 
than the connection of the family with the Wes- 
leyan body, he took his seat in the domestic 
circle, where he sat, unconscious as innocence 
or infancy of any other prerequisite for social 
enjoyment, than the religion of his Saviour. 
The habits of the gentleman, and the society 
in which he moved, rendered him at first un- 
comfortable ; and he was equally at a loss to 
know what to do with, and what to make of, his 
new and unexpected guest. A short interlude 
assisted in relieving the first feeling. The sit- 
ting-room door was opened, and a person stepped 
in, with whom the master of the house had to 
transact a little business. Samuel's presence 
added to the poignancy of his more delicate 
feelings. However, he was there, and the per- 
son was at liberty to suppose, if he judged 
proper, that Samuel was on business as well 
as himself. He sat in silence, and appeared 
to take no notice of either party. When the 
transaction Was closed, and the person rose to 
retire, Samuel started on his feet, as though he 
had been awakened from a trance, " Stop, sir, 
let us pray a bit before you go : you seem full 



a 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 203 

of the world, and we'll try to get it out of your 
heart." This rendered the occasion of his 
visit desperate ; and nothing but violence could 
be done to the feelings of his host to render 
such conduct supportable. But there was no 
time for excuse or remonstrance ; Samuel's voice 
was the warning clock — no sooner heard, than 
on his knees. The effect of this may be as 
readily conceived as expressed. Yet notwith- 
standing the coy beginning on the part of the 
gentleman, he was soon led to place the high- 
est value on Samuel's piety and presence, and 
continued to entertain both man and horse for 
some time ; and so much regard did his homely 
visiter gain from himself and his family, that 
they parted with sincere regret. 

Even in families where religion was not pro- 
fessed, his simplicity of manner, and general 
good character, gained him unhesitating access. 
When the Rev. A. Learoyd was on the Knares- 
borough circuit, he went to preach at a neigh- 
bouring village, and on entering the house of a 
friend, he found Samuel seated, who had just 
arrived. " Where have you put your horse, 
Samuel ?" inquired Mr. L. "I have left it at 
the other end of the village," was the reply ; 
adding, " will you go with me to the house ?" 
Mr. L. being aware that the family had no con- 
nection with the Wesleyan body, asked, "Why 
did you go there ?" " I saw plenty of hay, 
and good stables," returned Samuel, " and I 
thought it would be a good home for Jackey." 
The singularity of the visit led Mr. L. to accede 



204 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

to his wishes ; and on being seated in the fam- 
ily circle, Samuel proceeded to interrogate his 
host on the state of his soul. Considerable 
fluency characterized the replies : but Samuel, 
being suspicious that very little religion was 
enjoyed, proceeded to speak more plainly, ex- 
horting him to apply to Christ for converting 
grace. The word of exhortation' was well re- 
ceived, and he was pressed to remain the night 
with them : the invitation was accepted, and he 
acted the part of a priest in the family. " Let 
me," said he to the servant-maid, " have a dry 
bed ;" and to the servant-man, " You must give 
Jackey plenty to eat : — take good care of him, 
for he is the Lord's horse ; — the hay and the 
corn are the Lord's also." Abrupt as was his 
introduction here, and little as such freedoms 
are to be recommended, either in Samuel him- 
self or as examples for others, yet the family 
were much pleased with his visit. Such lead- 
ings and movements, in irrational creatures, 
would be attributed to instinct; but Samuel was 
girded and carried often, like Peter when he 
was old, by " another" than himself ; and he 
was more indebted to the Spirit and providence 
of God for his introduction and reception than 
either to his sagacity or the formalities of mo- 
dern manners. 

His representation of " the hay and the 
corn," as belonging to the Supreme Being, 
arose from a settled principle in his creed, and 
included a certain exclusiveness, not generally 
recognized by the professors of Christianity. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 205 

His own crops were viewed in the same light ; 
and his mind was so imbued with this notion, 
that all delegated or personal right, in reference 
to man, seemed frequently annihilated. He 
was going tu preaching one sabbath morning, 
when he was met by a person who knew his 
regard for the sanctity of that day. There had 
been a great deal of rain, which proved fatal 
to the " line" or flax crops. The following is 
the purport of what passed between them on 
the road : — 

Neighbour. " Where are you going, Sammy ?" 

Samuel. " To preaching." 

Neigh. " More need you get your line in, 
now that God is giving you fine weather." 

Sam. " He does not give fine weather for us 
to break the sabbath." 

Neigh. " Why, you see others making hay 
while the sun shines : they will get their line 
in to-day, and yours, if you let it lie till to-mor- 
row, and it should be wet, will be spoiled." 

Sam. " I have none to spoil, barn." 

Neigh. " Is not yon, lying down (pointing 
to it) yours ?" 

Sam. "No." 

Neigh. " What, is not yon your close ?" 

Sam. " No, it is the Lord's : he has a right 
to do with it what he likes ; and if he have a 
mind to spoil it, he may : it is his own, and no 
one has any business to quarrel with him for it. 
It is the Lord's day too, and I will give it to 
him." 

A brief dialogue, also involving the same 



206 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

principle, took place in the neighbourhood of 
Ferry Bridge, when Samuel was journeying 
from thence homeward. A gentleman was 
passing with a little boy, and having his atten- 
tion drawn to some sheep that were grazing in 
a field adjoining the road, he accosted Samuel : 

Gentleman. " Do you know, my good man, 
to whom those sheep belong ?*? 

Samuel. " My Lord, sir." 

Gent. " They are very fine ones ; I do not 
recollect ever having seen their equal." 

Sam. " They are a fine breed, sir." 

Gent. " I thought they might probably belong 
to Mr. Alderson, of Ferry Bridge." 

Sam. " No, sir, they belong to my Lord ; 
don't you know, that the earth is the Lord's, 
and the fulness thereof; and that the cattle 
upon a thousand hills are his ?" 

Gent. "You are right — you 'are right, old 
man." 

Samuel's reply would have been a mere play 
upon words in the mouth of many other per- 
sons ; but he was sincere ; and the gentleman's 
attention was suddenly and unexpectedly ele- 
vated "from earth to heaven, without his being 
offended by the manner in which it was done. 

With regard to " Jackey," who occupied such 
a prominent place in Samuel's esteem, and who 
is only noticed as bearing upon his master's 
history, it may be remarked, that on one occa- 
sion Samuel displayed a feeling respecting the 
treatment of the animal, which was not at all 
common to him. One of the young men be- 






THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 207 

longing to a family at whose house he stopped, 
withheld the meat from " Jaekey," and other- 
wise failed in his attention as groom. It came 
to Samuel's knowledge, and for a considerable 
length of time he utterly refused to go near the 
place again. In process of time he went back, 
but he would never take his favourite with him ; 
thus showing, that while he entertained no re- 
sentment — by his own return — the only feeling 
remaining was that of distrust in reference to 
his horse. 

Wherever Wesleyan Methodism was re- 
spected, Samuel was sure to be loved. He 
was a genuine believer in its doctrines, a living 
witness of its experimental truths, an example 
of its purest morals, a firm supporter of its dis- 
cipline, and a warm friend of its ministers. Of 
the latter, he ever spoke with respect and affec- 
tion ; and if his holy indignation was at any 
time kindled, it was when persons endeavour- 
ed to lower their character, by cold oblique 
hints, in the eyes of the world, and when an 
apparent delight was taken in sowing discord 
among brethren. Satisfied with his privileges, 
he avoided such as were given to change. He 
was accustomed to say, " I am determined to 
remain in the old ship. She has carried thou- 
sands across the ocean, and landed them safe 
in glory ; and if I stay in her, she will carry 
me there too."* Speaking once of a person 

* Samuel was not without his inducements to leave the 
body. Mr. Sigston, who has taken such a prominent part in 
the late division at Leeds, became offended in 1803, and 



208 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

who had acted in the capacity of a local preach- 
er, but had afterward united himself to another 
society, he resorted to his favourite figure of the 
" old ship," and inquired why he had left her, 
after she had borne him so long in safety? 
The simile was taken up by the other, who in- 
timated that she was in danger of foundering. 
Samuel returned, " You should not have been 
such a coward as to leave her, but should have 
remained on board, either to help to mend her, 
or prevent her from going to the bottom. But 
you have forsaken an old friend ; I know she 
is sound at heart, and as safe as ever." " My 
wife and I," said he to another person, " are 
sailing together in her. Some of our children 
are with us ; we are getting stronger ;" and 
then, with a fine glow of feeling, would exclaim, 
" We shall all sail to heaven together — I know 
we shall." This figurative mode of expression 
was rendered very popular in a sermon preached 

formed a small society, whose members received the appella- 
tion of Sigstonites. They held their meetings in a room 
which was taken for the purpose in Kirkgate. The head of 
this small party was known by a few of the friends belong- 
ing to the Pontefract circuit, among whom two exhorters, 
and two accredited local preachers, espoused his cause, the 
latter of whom were never very remarkable for submitting 
to rule. These took with them about thirty members of the 
society, and occupied a school-room in Knottingly, erected 
about ten yards from the Methodist chapel, by a person who, 
though not in society, took unspeakable pleasure in promo- 
ting the division. Samuel was earnestly importuned to 
unite himself to the Knottingly dissentients, and was told, 
as an inducement,, that he should have a certain sum pre- 
sented to him as a compensation for his labours, wherever he 
preached. It argued an ignorance of Samuel's character, 
to think that he was to be bought by gold. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 209 

by the late Rev. Joseph Benson, on schism, 
about the time of Mr. Kilham's defection from 
the body ; and it was one of those figures 
which Samuel could work without much dan- 
ger of being wrecked in its management. 

The religion which he carried into the fami- 
lies of others, and recommended in his public 
walks, was not without its influence at home. 
Though Martha and he could not always see 
eye to eye, in money affairs — and it was fortu- 
nate for him that they could not — yet he was 
an affectionate husband, as well as a tender 
father. He moved before his family more, per- 
haps, in the character of a priest, to pray for 
them, than a prophet and a king, to instruct and 
govern. He was fitted for the one rather than 
the other; and such was his attention to the 
family altar, such his prevalent intercession 
before it, that his incapacity for the two latter 
appeared to be greatly counterbalanced by the 
hallowed character of the former. He bore 
his partner and his children constantly before 
God, in the arms of faith and prayer, and lived 
in full confidence that the whole would be 
saved. If any of his opinions, more than 
others, bordered upon extravagance, it was 
upon the certain salvation of the children of 
praying parents. The possibility of perdition, 
in the case of any of them, was beyond en- 
durance. 

Though he took excursions to different places, 
from the period of his becoming a local preach- 
er, yet it was not till the latter part of 1 825, or 
14 



210 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the beginning of 1826, when he gave up busi- 
ness, that he took a more extensive range, and 
considered himself as doing the work, and 
therefore entitled to the name and honours of a 
home missionary. He was then possessed 
of what he deemed sufficient for the support of 
himself and his aged partner, during the even- 
ing of life. Being now at liberty from the 
trammels of business, he was invited into seve- 
ral circuits in Yorkshire and Lancashire, all of 
which he visited, preaching in the different 
towns and villages, and in many of which he 
was not only useful in the conversion of sin- 
ners, but in raising pecuniary supplies for the 
support of foreign missions, the erection and 
relief of places of worship. 

While gratifying the benevolent feelings of 
his heart, in obeying the calls of the people, 
he not unfrequently suffered various inconve- 
niences, notwithstanding the kindness of friends. 
An instance which occurred a short time prior 
to this part of his history, but which it would 
not be well to omit, betokening great absence 
of mind on the part of the persons on the spot, 
presents him under very unpleasant circum- 
stances. He attended a missionary meeting at 
Rigton in the Forest, a place belonging to the 
Otley circuit, about three or four miles from 
Harrowgate. " We had a blessed meeting," 
said Samuel : " I was very happy, and gave all 
the money I had in my pocket." After the 
meeting was concluded, he mounted his horse 
to return home. And in what aspect is he to 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 211 

be viewed ? Without any one offering to pay 
his expenses — not the value of a farthing in his 
pocket — advanced in life — a slow rider, and 
not a very sprightly horse — near the end of 
October, when the season was breaking up — in 
the night — alone — and about twenty miles from 
his own house. He became the subject of 
temptation. It was suggested — " No money to 
procure a feed of corn for tby horse, or re- 
freshment for thyself — and friends who might 
receive thee are gone to bed !" The struggle 
was short ; and the victory was obtained in his 
own way. Satan found no place in him for 
either repining or distrust. " I shaped him his 
answer," observed Samuel, "and said, 'Devil, 
I never stack fast yet. 5 " With his confidence 
invigorated by a recollection of past mercy, his 
happiness returned, and he remained the only 
nightingale of Christianity on the road, till he 
reached the village of Harewood. Then a 
gentleman who knew him took his horse by the 
bridle, and asked him where he had been. He 
gave him, in reply, an account of the meeting ; 
from which the gentleman glided into the sub- 
ject of his temporal concerns, in order to ascer- 
tain apparently how far a report was correct, 
which he had heard respecting some property 
out of which Samuel had been wronged. Sam- 
uel told him that he had " had two thousand 
pounds left" to him, but had " been deprived of 
it."* " I am very sorry for you," was the re- 

* The report heard by the one, and the language employed 
by the other, would scarcely comport with the subject, if 



212 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

joinder. Samuel replied, " Though I have 
been deprived of this, it has never deprived 
me of an hour's sleep. I never had a worse 
lot for it. I have not wanted for any good 
thing, and could always say with Job, ■ The 
Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away : blessed 
be the name of the Lord. 5 Though he took 
Job's, he has not taken the whole of my pro- 
perty : I still have all my children." The gen- 
tleman asked, " Can you read ?" " Yes," 
returned Samuel, " if I had my spectacles out 
of my pocket." " There," replied the gentle- 
man, holding a piece of paper in his hand, 
which was rendered visible by the glimmering 
light of the stars — " There is a five pound note 
for you. You love God and his cause ; and I 
believe you will never want." Samuel's eyes 
were instantly filled with tears, and his heart 
with gratitude. " Here," said he, " I saw the 
salvation of God. I cried for joy all the way 
as I went down the lonesome lanes ; and when 
I got to a public house, I asked the landlord if 
he could change me a five-pound bill ; for I told 
him I could not have any thing for myself or 

applied to a particular event which took place. Martha's 
brother, who had a considerable sum of money on interest 
in Royd's Iron Works, near Leeds, expressed a wish to live 
and die with Samuel ; proposing to allow the interest for his 
maintenance during life, and the principal at his death. 
The proposal was accepted — her brother resided with them 
— the Company at the Iron Works failed — the whole of the 
property was swept away — Samuel's hopes were blighted, 
vet he generously kept him in his own house till the day of 
his death, and thus prevented what must otherwise inevita- 
bly have ensued — his going to the workhouse. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 213 

my horse, unless he could change it. He said 
he could, if it were a good one. So I got off 
my horse, and ordered him a good feed of corn, 
and had some refreshment for myself. This 
was a fair salvation from the Lord. When I 
got home, I told my wife ; she brast (burst) into 
tears ; and we praised the Lord together." This 
was viewed by Samuel somewhat in the light 
of a triumph over Martha, who had chided him 
in the morning for taking so much money from 
home with him, to a missionary meeting, to 
which he gave his time, his labours, and ex- 
penses. He therefore added, by way of making 
his path more open to the purse in future, 
" You see, we never give to the Lord, but he 
gives in return." 

His addresses in the pulpit rarely extended 
beyond half an hour. This afforded time to 
engage in the work which was his favourite 
employment — a prayer meeting ; and these 
meetings furnished him very often with a 
knowledge of the progress of the word of life, 
as the benefits received under preaching were 
more fully developed in them, as well as che* 
rished by the intercessory prayers of the faith- 
ful. Having the unction of the Holy One — an 
anointing which he received from him that 
abode in him — he was enabled to proceed in 
the work with cheerfulness, and very often 
carried with him a commanding authority over 
the feelings and conduct of others. He was 
frequently under high excitation ; so much so, 
indeed, as sometimes to overpower his physical 



214 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

energies. " 0," said he to his friend Mr. D. 
once, after a missionary meeting at Howden, 
in which he had pleaded the cause of the 
heathen on the platform, till he was nearly ex- 
hausted — " 0," said he, " I am so happy. I 
shall surely die some of these times !" On 
another occasion, when at Pontefract, he re- 
marked to a friend, after the meeting, with 
ecstatic feeling, and in his own peculiarly ex- 
pressive language, " I felt as though I should 
have smelted (melted) away to heaven." This 
is no common thought — not even to be ex- 
ceeded by Pope's " Dying Christian," whom 
he represents as languishing into life. It is 
only in cases like this that we feel the force 
of Coleridge's remark in the motto selected for 
the memoir ; and feel, too, a disposition to sub- 
scribe to the sentiments of a critic, in a number 
of Blackwood's Magazine, where he observes, 
" That the knowledge that shone but by fits 
and dimly upon the eyes of Socrates and Plato, 
whose eyes rolled in vain to find the light, has 
descended into various lands as well as our 
own — even into the huts where poor men lie ; 
and thoughts are familiar there, beneath the low 
and smoky roof, higher and more sublime than 
ever flowed from the lips of a Grecian sage, 
meditating among the magnificence of his 
pillared temples." Though the expression, 
" pleading the cause of the heathen," may be a 
little too argumentative in its character, when 
applied to the speeches and addresses of the 
M Village Blacksmith," and may excite the 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 215 

laugh in those who employ the head, to the ex- 
clusion of the heart, in such work ; yet Samuel's 
honest and pathetic appeals very often touched 
the feelings and raised the " cash accounts" — 
raised perhaps with a smile — when the dull 
spirits, sapless speeches, and tedious readings 
of those who could see a greater curse in a 
little incoherence and hilarity than in luke- 
warmness, produced only listlessness and a 
yawn. 

A still more expressive sentiment was em- 
ployed by him, when preaching once in his 
own neighbourhood, on " The Spirit and the 
bride say, Come. And let him that heareth 
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely." He expatiated on the value and 
uses of water, as far as common observation 
allowed him to proceed, — passing from that 
element to the " water of life," which formed 
the prominent feature of his text, — urging the 
freedom with which it was offered, — and finally 
impressing his hearers with the importance of 
the subject. He told them, in speaking of its 
value, that he himself was unacquainted with 
it, — that he doubted whether any of his hearers 
knew how to appreciate it, — that he doubted 
whether there was a person upon the face of 
the earth who knew its worth, — nay, further, 
that he did not believe an angel in heaven 
could enter into its merit, — that, in short, he 
never heard of but one who knew its real value, 
and " that was the rich man in hell, who would 



216 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

have given a world for a drop of it." The 
climacterical manner in which he thus worked 
his way up to the point which he wished to 
gain — like St. Paul's light afflictions and eternal 
weight of glory — the amazing contrast between 
a world and a drop — that drop solicited by a 
tongue of fire — and the eternal destinies of his 
hearers suspended on their acceptance of offered 
grace, to prevent the untimely knowledge of 
its worth by its loss in perdition, would have 
done honour to the first orators, in the best 
days of classic Greece and Rome. 

During some of his moments of inspiration, 
he would manifest considerable impatience, 
when he was likely to be deprived of an op- 
portunity of giving vent to the overflowings of • 
his mind. A speaker at a missionary meeting, 
who prosed a good deal, inflicted a heavy 
punishment upon him in this way. Long be- 
fore he had concluded, Samuel appeared ex- 
tremely uneasy. " Sit still, Sammy," said the 
chairman in an under tone, being near him, and 
on terms of intimacy. " He is too long by the 
half," returned Samuel. After sitting awhile, 
with his hands clenched, and fixed between 
his knees, as in a vice, he again manifested 
symptoms of restlessness ; when again the 
chairman endeavoured quietly to impose silence, 
and inspire a little long-suffering. Various 
rounds were exchanged between them, one re- 
questing the other to "be still," and the other 
requesting that the speaker, who was uncon- 
scious of what was passing in the rear, might 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 217 

be told to " give over." The good brother con- 
tinued prosing, without the least sign of coming, 
in any moderate length of time, to a close. 
Samuel, at length, started up — who, by the 
way, spoke only the feelings of others, who 
possessed more self-command and prudence, 
though less courage, and said, turning to the 
chairman, " Sir, that brother does not love his 
neighbour as himself; he does not take the 
Scriptural rule of doing to others as he would 
that others should do to him, for he will let no 
body speak but himself." Here the business 
dropped between the parties ; the speaker be- 
ing left to take the credit of having pleased all 
except Samuel, and Samuel brushed up his 
better feelings to engage the attention of the 
people during the few moments allotted to him, 
as the seconder of the resolution. Being 
coupled on another occasion with a popular 
speaker, Samuel turned to him, and said, " They 
have paired us like rabbits." 

The Rev. J. Roadhouse, having heard either 
that he had actually declined business, or was 
on the eve of it, invited him, in the beginning of 
October, 1825, to pay the friends a visit at Cross 
Hills, a place in the Addingham circuit. A 
few weeks passed over, and not having heard 
from Samuel, the invitation began to wear away 
from recollection. About the middle of No- 
vember, Samuel one day unexpectedly made 
his appearance, mounted on " Jackey." The 
latter was cheerfully provided for by a friend, 
and Samuel took up his abode with Mr. Road- 



218 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

house. He generally accompanied Mr. R. to 
the different places of preaching — commenced 
the service with singing and prayer — spoke 
from ten to twenty minutes — and then gave 
place to Mr. R. to conclude the service. On 
one of these occasions, he broke off his address 
rather abruptly, and suddenly stepping back in 
the pulpit, said, " Brother R. will now preach 
to you, for two sermons are better than one." 
A good feeling having been excited, Mr. R. 
commenced his address, by an allusion to the 
words of the Jewish monarch, " What shall the 
man do who cometh after the king ?" Samuel, 
before any application could be made, ex- 
claimed, " Do ! you will do well enough, only 
go on." The service terminated much better 
than this unexpected interlude at first promised. 
Two persons were deeply affected with his 
public address; and at another place five per- 
sons were brought to a state of penitence. 

The great commercial depression which dis- 
tinguished the close of this year was just be- 
ginning to be experienced. Many of the poor 
people in Addingham and its neighbourhood 
sold part of their furniture, and whatever they 
could spare of other things, in order to procure 
food. Samuel visited them ; and after having 
given all the money away which he had deemed 
sufficient for his journey, a poor boy entered 
the door-way of a house where he was sitting. 
The weather was cold, and the boy was with- 
out neckerchief. Samuel pitied him — asked 
for a pair of scissors — took his handkerchief 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 219 

from his own pocket — cut it into halves — and 
tied one of them around the neck of the poor 
little fellow — rejoicing in the opportunity af- 
forded of clothing the naked. 

He remained here nearly three weeks ; and 
just as he was leaving Mr. Roadhouse, to pro- 
ceed to his friends at Grassington, he thanked 
him for his kindness toward him, and then with 
tears said, " You must let me have some money 
to pay the toll bars, and get Jackey a feed of 
corn." Till now, Mr. R. was not aware that 
he was pennyless ; and yet, in the midst of it, 
he seemed more mindful of his horse than of 
himself. After having spent a short time at 
Grassington, he visited Skipton, where he re- 
mained three weeks, and was rendered very 
useful in different parts of the circuit. Miss 
Lister of Colne, (now Mrs. Howarth of Clithero,) 
having heard much of his zeal, and power 
with God in prayer, sent an invitation to him to 
spend a few days at her house. Here also he 
tarried nearly three weeks, taking occasional 
rambles into the Burnley circuit. Some of the 
persons who were brought to God through his 
labours during this visit have reached the goal, 
and others are pressing toward the mar k, in 
order to obtain the prize. From Colne he pro- 
ceeded home, where he remained but a short 
time, yielding to other invitations. 

We find him in the neighbourhood of Hud- 
dersfield and Denby-Dale, in the latter part of 
January, 1826, with E. Brook, Esq., as his 
companion in labour. His attention to others 



220 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

led him to neglect himself; and the latter, find- 
ing him without a proper winter covering, 
purchased an excellent top-coat to preserve him 
from the cold. But though he was thus equip- 
ped, and could speak of " plenty of coals" and 
" good fires," the " cold storms" which howled 
around him, and the heavy " snows" which fell, 
kindled the sensibilities of his nature toward 
Martha, whom he had left at home, and whom 
he addressed in his letters, as his " dear bosom- 
friend." In a letter dated January 24th, from 
Denby-Dale, he exhorted his daughter to do 
all in her " power" to " make" her " dear mother 
comfortable" — to " keep her well happed up by 
day and by night" — to " give her a little wine to 
nourish her" — assuring her that she should " be 
recompensed" — requesting her to write imme- 
diately should any thing untoward take place — 
and telling her, that he bore them all up, " both 
in public and private, at a throne of grace." 
He solicited a " long letter" in return, inform- 
ing him how they were " going on in the best 
things ;" whether or not " Mrs. Porter" was 
dead; and then, with the fondness of a grand- 
father — the cherub forms twining around his 
heart, and romping about in his imagination — 
he adds, " Let me know how my dear grand- 
child does," and say whether she can yet 
" run," holding out " her bonny little hand." 
This is a stroke of pure nature. The autumn 
of life turns away from the gloom of its winter, 
and seems to be perpetually reverting to the 
freshness, and bloom, and loveliness of its 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 221 

spring, as though anxious to live it over again 
in the innocent child, or by e feeling after it, and 
catching hold of some of its joys, it experienced 
a kind of resuscitation, and went forth with 
renewed vigour. 

While in this quarter he spoke of having 
" plenty of work, and good wages" — the wages 
of " peace, joy, and love,*' — of sinners being 
" saved," — of " backsliders" being healed, — of 
God placing " the ring" on the finger, and " the 
shoes on the feet" of the returning " prodigal." 
His mind, he observed, was " kept in perfect 
peace ;" and such was the joy he experienced, 
such his " prospect of glory," when he arose 
one morning, that he concluded that the Lord 
was either about to " fit" him " for some trial," 
or to grant him instant preparation for his 
" glorious inheritance." He had been engaged 
in the course of the week in which he wrote 
in begging for a chapel, " the ground" of which, 
he observed, was given to him by " Mr. D., of 
Highflats," a member of the Society of Friends ; 
and the week after he purposed going to " Penis- 
tone," to assist in begging for another chapel in 
that place. 

In his perambulations among the sick and 
the poor, he entered the house of a woman 
with seven children, who had only had one 
pound of animal food for the family for the 
space of about four weeks. Her tale of distress 
required no embellishment to find access to the 
ear and heart of Samuel. As soon as he heard 
it, he gave her some money to procure " a meat 



222 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

dinner" for herself and children the following 
day. 

After " finishing his work," as he termed it, 
in that neighbourhood, he returned home, where 
*he again remained but a short time. He set off 
for Rochdale in February or March, taking Brad- 
ford on his way, at which place he was pressed 
to remain from Tuesday to Thursday, preach- 
ing at Great-Horton and Low Moor, and holding 
prayer meetings. On reaching Rochdale 5 where 
he had some family affairs to settle, he found 
ample ground for the exercise of his patience, 
through the nefarious conduct of a female and 
some others, who had appropriated to them- 
selves the wearing apparel and other property 
which was left to his wife by her sister, Mrs 
L., denying at the same time such appropria- 
tion. His want of confidence in the gentlemen 
of the law made him decline all legal measures ; 
and his faith in God led him to believe that 
things would work around to a proper point, in 
the order of Divine Providence ; and though tried 
at first, he soon lost all sense of wrong, in the 
means of grace in which he was constantly 
engaged, the prospect of a visit to Manchester, 
and the services connected with the opening of 
a new chapel at Rochdale, stating the amount 
of the collections and subscriptions " to be nearly 
two thousand pounds," and exhorting Martha to 
make progress in piety, and to solace herself 
with the thought that though she was deprived 
of her right in her sister's wardrobe here, she 
should hereafter receive " a white garment," 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 223 

one that would " never grow threadbare." With 
what kind of grace Martha received the ex- 
hortation and encouragement, is not for the 
writer to state : but she must have viewed it as„ 
a poor apology for indifference in his own 
cause, as well as an inadequate protection from 
the cold of winter. Muffled up in his " new 
top-coat," and forgetting his advice to his daugh- 
ter, to " hap" her " mother by night and by 
day," he now, with the opportunity before him, 
of adding to her attire, seemed to act on the 
comfortless principle of " Be ye warmed," or as 
though she had been all spirit, and the bare men- 
tion of a future state was sufficient to kindle a 
fire that would warm the whole system. But 
Martha found she had a body as well as a soul : 
however, she knew he meant well ; and this 
was only one case among many in which she 
had to bear with him, and to look for " treasure 
in heaven," as a substitute for a little more 
upon earth. 

Though he rose superior to the trials of this 
case, when immediately engaged in preaching 
and visiting, yet there were moments when its 
hardships returned upon him, so as to lead him 
to dwell upon them in conversation with his 
friends. Mrs. L., one of Martha's sisters, was 
possessed of j£600 on her marriage. The in- 
terest of this, should she die first, was to be 
enjoyed by her husband, and then the principal 
was to revert to her own family on his demise. 
Contrary to the original agreement, «£500 of 
this was made over by the husband to a member 



224 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

of his own family, and Martha was cut off 
with the remainder. To secure this, she was 
obliged to visit Rochdale, in order to sign the 
. writings ; and being extremely infirm, the ex- 
pense, added to the difficulty of conveyance, 
rendered the journey painful and tedious. 
Samuel thought, on coming to the whole of this 
property, that he would be able to devote more 
of his time to the public service of his Saviour. 
Looking back upon the expense, trouble, and 
disappointment, he observed to Mr. Dawson 
once, " I have prayed to the Lord, that he would 
send me no more miser money." Mr. D. very 
significantly returned, " I dare say your prayer 
will be answered, Samuel." 

Having received invitations to different places, 
and being generally mounted on his blind, but 
favourite horse, " Jackey," whom he esteemed 
for his works' sake — having carried the heralds 
of peace for some years around the York circuit 
— he was enabled to extend his circle. It was 
in the course of this journey that he left, as 
previously promised, his MS. life with the 
writer at Manchester. He extended his circuit 
to Bolton, Clithero, Colne, Addingham, Grass- 
ington, Burnley, Padiham, Bacup, Rossendale, 
Bury, RatclifTe Close, and many of the adjacent 
and intermediate places. The absence of the 
Rev. W. M'Kitrick from the Burnley circuit, 
who had been called to Leeds to attend to some 
family arrangements, led Samuel to remain 
longer in Burnley and its neighbourhood than 
in some other places, being requested to attend 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 225 

to Mr. M'K.'s appointments. The effects of 
the " general panic," so called, were still ex- 
perienced, both by the manufacturers and their 
men ; and few districts suffered more than the 
one from fifteen to twenty miles around the circle 
in which he laboured. The sick and poor were 
the objects of his constant solicitude; and 
many were the scenes of distress he witnessed, 
as well as the cases he relieved. Writing to a 
friend, he remarks, " I have seen much suffer- 
ing and many privations since I saw you. The 
sufferings of the people have been neither few 
nor small. I have been in the midst of them 
for three months ; and I believe my dear Lord 
and Master has sent me here. What with 
praying with the people, and what with begging 
for them, I have had full employment. I was 
so affected one night that I could not take my 
rest." Though he took a fair sum of his own 
money into the neighbourhood with him, it was 
soon exhausted. The friends were kind to him in 
granting him supplies ; but he was always poor ; 
for no sooner were his resources recruited, 
than he flew to the haunts of wretchedness, 
prayed with the people, conversed with them, 
and wept over them. One circumstance which 
affected him more than almost any other which 
came under his observation was the case of a 
poor child, whom he saw sitting and satisfying 
the cravings of hunger by devouring some 
grains which had been brought from a brew- 
house. 

On finding the demands made upon his bene- 
15 



226 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

volence pressing him beyond what he was able 
to endure, he asked some friends whether some- 
thing could not be done by way of public sub- 
scription. He was answered that the bulk of 
the people were poor, and that the manufac- 
turers were equally distressed with the persons 
they had employed, and were obliged to dis- 
miss, because of a want of trade and public 
confidence. He was informed, however, that 
there was one gentleman in the neighbourhood, 
of great opulence, who was capable of im- 
parting seasonable and adequate relief — only, 
the informants intimated, that he was a mem- 
ber of the Roman Catholic Church, and might 
not be quite accessible to persons making Pro- 
testant appeals. " No matter what he is," re- 
turned Samuel, " the people are not to starve." 
x\ddressing the same friend in the letter just 
referred to, he observes, " I asked them to go 
with me, but they refused, because of his re- 
ligion. I told them, that the Lord had the hearts 
of all men in his keeping, and that he kept the 
hearts of the Roman Catholics also. I went 
to the Lord and asked him to go with me." It 
was too late in the evening for him to present 
the case; but he was up betimes the next 
morning, when, mounted on his favourite horse, 
he proceeded to Towneley Hall, near Burnley, 
the residence of Peregrine Edward Towneley, 
Esq. He knocked at the door, and the knock 
being answered by a servant not in livery, 
whom he thought sufficiently gentlemanly in 
his appearance to be the master of the domain, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 227 

he asked at once, " Are you Mr. Towneley, 
sir ?" Being answered in the negative, he in- 
quired, " Can I see him, sir V The servant re- 
plied he could, and showed him into a room. 
Mr. Towneley soon appeared, and with his 
usual promptitude, frankness, and condescen- 
sion, inquired the errand of his visiter. Mr. 
T., though perfectly gentlemanly in his manners 
— which the biographer knows from personal 
interview — yet happens to he one of those 
characters who prefer their real worth to be 
brought to the. test of the understanding and the 
heart, rather than in the show of fashion and 
finery to the eye; his attire, therefore, being 
somewhat less prepossessing than that of the 
person who opened the hall door, Samuel had 
recourse to his old question, to ascertain the 
fact—" Are you Mr. Towneley, sir ?" This 
point being settled, he proceeded with his 
" tale of wo" — stating what he had seen, heard, 
and done, finally bringing the subject home to 
the bosom and to the coffers of his auditor. " I 
am come, sir," said he, " to relate to you the 
suffering state of the poor in Burnley. I have 
been a month in the neighbourhood ; and my 
employment has been to visit them. Many of 
them are without religion. It affects my mind 
that I cannot help them. I have given all 
the money I had ; I am now between fifty and 
sixty miles from my own home ; and if I had a 
turnpike-gate to go through, I have not a penny 
to pay it with, If something is not done for the 
poor, they will be pined to death, and it will 



228 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

bring a judgment upon our island." " The 
poor," returned Mr. Towneley, " must be re- 
lieved ; but how is it to be done ?" Samuel 
replied, " The best way will be to call a meet- 
ing of the respectable inhabitants of the town, 
and to form a committee ; and then present 
relief will be given." Mr. T. was affected with 
his simplicity, and being convinced of his in- 
tegrity, observed, that if any measure could be 
devised to promote the public good, he would 
with great pleasure accede to it, and would set 
the example of a public subscription. He 
further added, that he would be glad to meet a 
committee of gentlemen, at the earliest period, 
and at any hour of the day. Samuel proceeded, 
" This noble man sent the next morning, by 
his steward, .£150 for the sufferers." A public 
meeting immediately followed for the purpose 
of taking into consideration the distress of the 
poor ; and if the " Village Blacksmith" had 
not the* credit of entirely originating — of 
which perhaps few will be disposed to rob 
him — he was, at least, the cause of hasten- 
ing it. 

Suffering in this case, as in many others, led 
to violence. " But," said Samuel, " my soul 
was kept in perfect peace in the midst of all. 
Our friends would not let me leave them till 
the disturbances ceased. I prayed for the 
people, and warned them of their danger. I 
told them, that if they did not drop it, they 
would be cut off; and the Lord stayed the 
wrath of man. When the Lord works, he 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 229 

works like a God.* He stopped the way of 
the wicked." 

The writer attended a missionary meeting at 
Clithero, in the course of the spring, at which 
Samuel was present, and at which he spoke. 
Samuel preached on the occasion, early in the 
morning, and improved the case of the jailer at 
Philippi, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, 
taking for his text the 31st verse. Many of the 
thoughts were original — some of them touching 
— not a few pertinent — but, as a whole, without 
connection. 

Though his addresses, from a want of classi- 
fication, might be brought under the general 
appellation of truth at random, still it was 
truth ; and as such, God, in the aboundings of 
his mercy to the sinner, and in condescension 
to the instrument, honoured it with the stamp of 

* A poor, but pious negro-woman, being addressed by her 
teacher on the goodness of God, was asked, whether she 
was not astonished at his mercy in giving his Son, and his 
condescension in giving that Son for her. She replied, she 
was not. Supposing she was not sufficiently impressed with 
the subject, and defective in the fine feeling of gratitude, he 
continued to expatiate on the vastness and freedom of his 
love, giving additional emphasis to his language, and colour- 
ing to his subject, closing again with the question, "What, 
are you not astonished at this ?" " No, massa," was still 
the reply. Turning upon her with a degree of impatience, 
" And why are you not astonished?" he inquired. " Why, 
massa, me no astonished, because it be just like him !" The 
simplicity and sublimity of this sentiment, which borders 
upon that of Samuel Hick, but leaving him still in the rear, 
both for originality and beauty, is rarely to be equalled by 
the sayings of persons in educated society, and fills us with 
regret to think that the body of a mind so fit for freedom, 
should be in bondage to one probably many degrees her in- 
ferior in intellect. 



230 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

his own signet, A person but indifferently 
skilled in incentives to vanity, asked Samuel 
one day, how it could be accounted for, that 
while some of the most polished and systematic 
discourses of some preachers fell pointless upon 
the hearts of the hearers, his homely addresses 
took such effect. "Why," returned Samuel, 
" their preaching is like a line ; they *go straight 
forward, and only hit one ; but mine goes out 
and in — to the right and to the left, and running 
this way and that way among a crowd" — as 
though he had a cracker running riot in his im- 
agination, thrown among the spectators from 
the hand of a person displaying fire-works- — 
"it is sure to strike some." He employed the 
same metaphorical language, on another occa- 
sion, to the Rev. James Wood, only varying it 
in his application. "I cannot," said he, " go 
straight forward in preaching ; but when I miss 
my mark in going, I often fell them in coming 
back again." Another friend, urging upon him 
the propriety of employing something like system 
in his addresses, told him to divide and sub- 
divide them like his brethren. He was not 
aware apparently of Samuel's want of the power 
of classification, or of his peculiar views of pre- 
paratory composition. Listening to his adviser, 
with his face toward the ground, as was some- 
times his habit, he turned his view upward, on 
the closing sentence, and with an expressive 
look, as well as peculiar tone, both indicative of 
a belief that the speaker was not very well 
versed in the grand secret of useful preaching, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 231 

* Why, bless you, barn? said he, " I give it 
them hot off the bakestone !" indirectly intimat- 
ing, that the spiritual u bread" provided by many 
of the systematizers was very often cold, in 
consequence of the time employed in prepara- 
tion, before it reached the people. He had long 
wished the Rev. R. Newton to preach at Mickle- 
field ; and, as an inducement, proposed to give 
two of his own sermons for one by Mr. Newton, 
which he thought — with equal sincerity and 
simplicity — would be an equivalent, both in ac- 
tual labour and probable usefulness. This, in 
Samuel, was not the language of pride and self- 
sufficiency : he " spoke as a child." 

It appears, that during this tour to " the west," 
the "laborious work," as he expressed himself, 
through which he had to pass, was such as to 
reduce his physical strength. But in the midst 
of it he could sing, "Labour is rest, and pain is 
sweet ;" and then would exultingly exclaim, 
" God has been with me ; if I have lost weight 
in body, I have gained it in soul. He has 
given me strength according to my day." Hor- 
ton, Wakefield, and other places, were visited 
on his return. At one of them he took for his 
text 1 John i, 7, and was rather pleased than 
otherwise to find that a gentleman had taken 
his sermon in short-hand ; and still more so, to 
know that he had been benefited by it, though 
not a little surprised to be presented by him 
with half a sovereign at the close of the ser- 
vice. While in the Pately-Bridge circuit, 
which was another of the scenes of his labour, 



232 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

in the course of this excursion, he wrote from 
Mr. Bramley's, Brown Bank, and in his letter 
observes, " I am where my soul and body rest 
in peace — peace that the world can neither give 
nor take away — a peace that is constant." 
The body and soul resting in peace, has all the 
quiet about it of a saint silently waiting in the 
grave for the morning of the resurrection ; and 
it was this feeling that rendered the " laborious 
work" just referred to easy, like St. Paul's 
" light affliction." 

Home had still its attractions, but his zeal 
permitted it to become only a partial resting- 
place. Passing over some other fields of labour, 
we find him toward the close of July, as ap- 
pears from his letters, exercising his talents at 
Stamford-Bridge, Copmanthorpe, Acomb, and 
other places in the York circuit, and pressed 
to pay another visit to Bolton. One part of his 
business was to beg for a chapel ; and " for 
every sovereign" received, he observed, " God 
gave his brethren and himself a soul." But 
though " plenty of money" was obtained, " no 
small stir" was made by the enemies of religion 
when they witnessed the grace of God in the 
new converts. In the neighbourhood of Stam- 
ford-Bridge, especially, persecution showed its 
odious front, in the steward of a gentleman of 
landed property, who threatened to turn the 
farmers off their farms, if they persisted in 
attending the ministry of the Methodist preach- 
ers. Samuel " thought this a very hard case," 
and proceeded at once to the fountain head for 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 233 

redress — to the landed proprietor himself. He 
told the gentleman that he came to "beg a 
favour. 55 On being asked the purport of his 
request, he replied, " To ask you to let your 
tenants have the same liberty the king grants 
his subjects. 55 Though partly alive to the sub- 
ject, the reply demanded farther explanation ; 
and Samuel added, " To let your tenants go to 
the Methodist chapel. 55 The gentleman, with 
considerable warmth, interposed his interdict, 
stating, that they should not. Samuel conti- 
nued to urge his plea, by affirming that the 
tenants objected to were the best " church- 
goers 55 in the neighbourhood — that there was 
service in the Established Church only in the 
forenoon — and that they wished to hear the 
Methodists in the afternoon. The threatening 
of the steward, which now appeared to be only 
the echo of the master 5 s voice, was repeated 
and confirmed ; and one of the reasons assigned 
was, that the " Methodists 55 were " a disaffect- 
ed people. 55 This was a tender point. " Sir, 55 
said Samuel, "you do not know them so well 
as I do. I have known them fifty years. They 
are the most loyal body of people living, and 
they are doing more good than any other peo- 
ple upon earth : and, sir, I think it is very hard 
that you should attempt to prevent your tenants 
from praying to God, who is sending his judg- 
ments abroad in our island, when prayer is the 
only weapon that can turn them aside. 55 Sam- 
uel, alas ! was dismissed without obtaining the 
object of his petition : but he still exulted in 



234 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the firmness and perseverance manifested by 
the persons against whom the threatening was 
directed, and over whom it hung like an angry 
cloud ; rejoicing especially in one whom he 
claimed as a " name-sake" 

He paid another visit to York, and Stamford- 
Bridge, in March, 1827 ; and in a letter, like a 
song of triumph, observed that he was in his 
" element" — had " lived to see good days" — 
never " saw such a revival before" — that if the 
Lord would only grant him the desire of his 
heart, a " general revival," he would then " say, 
with old Simeon, Now, Lord, let thy servant 
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy 
salvation" — that he had been " assisting to hold 
a lovefeast," and though he had been " a Me- 
thodist for so many years," he never expe- 
rienced such a lovefeast in all his life — that the 
sum of "eleven pounds had been collected in 
it for the poor" — that the " family increased" 
so rapidly, another chapel would be necessary 
— that the " friends in York liked" his " doc- 
trine of sanctiiication" — that several had ob- 
tained " liberty" while he was preaching in St. 
George's chapel — and that "some had been 
sanctified ;" then turning upon Martha, whom 
he was addressing, he proceeded, " I hope you 
are getting hold of the hem of our Lord's gar- 
ment. You shall be made whole. I know you 
once enjoyed sanctification.* The fountain is 

* Martha deprived herself of an occasional blessing, 
through the natural warmth of her temper ; and the great dif- 
ference in Samuel, between his converted and unconverted 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 235 

still open. The Spirit and the bride say, 
Come." 

In the course of this visit, a young man 
heard him preach, who stood rebuked before 
God under the word. Nature and grace had a 
powerful struggle in the onset : he was so ex- 
asperated at Samuel, as to avow, if he ever 
went again to hear him, he would " take a rope 
and hang him with it." Still the subject of 
conflicting feelings, he went once more ; but 
the lion no longer shook his mane for the con- 
test : a little child might have led him. The 
same voice which roused his fury, allayed 
it : he became calm — heard with attention — 
mixed faith with hearing — believed— and was 
saved. 

state, is perceptible in the effect he permitted it to have upon 
his mind. In the first instance, he either rebelled or fled 
from it ; in the second, he was all meekness, exhortation, 
and anxiety, to see her enjoying the perfection of the dispen- 
sation under which she lived. On one occasion, prior to his 
conversion, he left the house with an intention never to re- 
turn. A friend asking him why he relented, Samuel repli- 
ed, " Why, barn, as I was crossing the field, I saw the bonny 
white lambs playing ; they looked so innocent, and happy, 
that I thought I could not leave them, and to went back 
again." He was a mere child of nature, and nature here, 
with its innocent gambols, laid a firmer hold of his heart, 
than the recollection of his vows before the marriage altar. 
But now, as Martha had often to bear with him, so, uncom- 
plaining, he bears with her ; and mutual good is the object of 
both. Samuel's is not the first heart that has been smitten 
with tenderness at the sight of a lamb ; and than the first 
glance of the first lamb of the season, there is scarcely any 
thing more calculated to awaken the sensibilities of our na- 
ture. The associations are too obvious to be insisted upon ; 
and a heart so susceptible of the tender and the innocent, is 
capable of being led in any direction, and wound up to any 
pitch. 



236 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



CHAPTER X. 



His first visit to London — Dialogue at an inn on the road 
— Wesleyan Missionary Meeting — Preaches at Southwark 
— Exalts divine truth at the expense of human knowledge — 
Persons benefited by his addresses — His notions of nervous 
complaints — His second visit to the metropolis — Mrs. Wrath- 
all ; her character, experience, and affliction — Samuel's gen- 
eral views and feelings, as connected with his second visit 
— Pleads strenuously for the doctrine of sanctification — Is 
both opposed and supported in it by persons of the Baptist 
persuasion — Receives a gentle admonition from Martha — A 
specimen of one of his public addresses, when in one of his 
most felicitous moods. 



His visit to the metropolis, which has only- 
been incidentally noticed, deserves to be intro- 
duced distinctly and at large. He was there 
twice ; and though a period of eight years 
occupied the space between, they are here 
classed together, not only because of the affin- 
ity of subject and place, as has been observed 
in other cases ; but because of the nonimport- 
ance of the one compared with the other, ren- 
dering a distinct notice less necessary. 

It appears in a communication from Mr. 
Wrathall to the writer, that Samuel's " first visit 
to London was in May, 1819," on which occa- 
sion "he remained somewhat more than a 
month." Though he had a daughter in London, 
then housekeeper to Mr. W., and other relations 
in the neighbourhood, a more powerful spring 
was found in the general annual Wesleyan 
Missionary Meeting, to give an impetus to his 
movements toward the metropolis, than either 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 237 

in friendship or relationship. On this trip, he 
remarks, " I had a very pleasant journey, as I 
had the Lord with me ; and the weather being 
fine, made my way very comfortable. I sung 
hymns in the night to keep me awake." On 
the coach arriving at Retford, time was allowed 
for the passengers to take refreshment, when 
Samuel and the other persons on the outside 
alighted, together with four gentlemen from 
within. Samuel, having as usual beat " quick 
time," suddenly disappeared. One of the 
inside passengers inquired pleasantly of the 
coachman where the man was who " had been 
so merry on the top," and was answered, that 
he had " gone into the kitchen." A request 
was immediately sent, inviting him into the 
dining-room, with which he complied. The 
room, the table, and the provision, at first 
surprised him. To the occasional and alter- 
nate interrogatories of each, he replied ; the 
substance of part of which is as follows, and 
for the brevity of which every coach-traveller 
will be able to furnish an answer, having been 
repeatedly saluted with the horn, when his ap- 
petite has urged him to stay. 

Gentleman. " We have sent for you, to ask 
you to sit down at table with us." 

Samuel. " I am obliged : but I have ordered 
the waiter to draw me a pint of ale, and I have 
plenty of beef and bread with me." 

Gent. " You have been such good company, 
we have agreed to treat you with your supper." 

On this he sat down, and partook of their 



238 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH, 

hospitable cheer ; the four gentlemen and him- 
self constituting the party. 

Gent. " How far may you be going this 
road?" 

Sam. "To London." 

Gent. " How far have you travelled ?" 

Sam. " From Micklefield, near Ferry Bridge." 

Gent. "What business calls you up to 
town ?" 

Sam. "I am going to a noble missionary 
meeting." 

Gent. " Don't you think you have a poor 
errand ?" 

Here an armistice was instantly proclaimed 
between Samuel and his supper, and looking 
expressively at the speaker, he said, 

" Sir, I would not turn back, if you were to 
give me five pounds for doing it." 

Gent. "Perhaps not. Who pays your ex- 
penses ?" 

Sam. " I pay my own, sir. I have plenty of 
money; and if you dispute it, I will let you 
see it." 

Such a confession, in some societies — as he 
had upward of j£170 upon him — would have 
been prized, and his ignorance of the world 
might have been improved upon ; but he was 
in honourable company. On his offer being 
declined, another of the gentlemen struck in — 

" There is a great deal of money spent upon 
the heathen. If we are to suppose that the 
Lord will never send them to a place of pun- 
ishment for not believing in a Saviour of whom 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 239 

they have never heard, would it not be much 
better to let them alone V 

Sam. " The Lord has declared, that he will 
give his Son the heathen for his inheritance, 
and the uttermost parts of the earth for his 
possession — that the gospel of the kingdom 
shall be preached in all the world — and that 
then will come the end, when all shall know 
him from the least to the greatest." 

He could not enter into the subtleties in 
which the question was involved, and with 
which it has often been perplexed by the self- 
ish, and unbelieving, and the designing ; but 
he cast anchor in God's designs, commands, 
and promises, which were the general notions 
he wished to express — his design to save, his 
promise to give, and his command to preach to 
the heathen ; and there he remained riding in 
safety : what God commanded he considered 
himself bound to perform, and what he had 
promised, he knew he was faithful to fulfil. 

Gent. " Do you intend to deliver a speech 
on the occasion ?" 

Sam. " O no : I expect there will be a num- 
ber of gentlemen at the meeting, from all parts 
of the world, and I hope to have the pleasure 
of hearing them make their noble speeches." 

Gent. " If you will promise to make a speech, 
we will come and hear you." 

The conversation was interrupted by the an- 
nouncement of the horses being ready to start. 
Samuel resumed his seat and his song, and ar- 
rived in safety the next day in London. At 



240 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the public meeting he found his way to the 
platform ; and to his great surprise, one of the 
gentlemen who had regaled him with his sup- 
per at Retford took a seat next him, and pre- 
sented him with an orange ; but he was still 
more astonished, when the gentleman's name 
was announced as R. F., Esq., of Bradford, 
Yorkshire, who was called upon to second a 
resolution. 

The first chapel he preached in was that of 
Southwark, and the second, Hinde-street. On 
the first occasion he took one of his favourite 
texts, James i. 27. A gentleman accosted him 
after the service, in a frank way — u My good 
old Yorkshire man, though I could not under- 
stand the whole of your language, part of which 
might have been Danish for any thing I know 
to the contrary, yet I have had my soul 
blessed under your sermon." Samuel replied, 
" It makes no matter, sir, what the language is, 
if the soul only gets blessed."* The gentle- 

* This circumstance was afterward related and improved 
by Samuel in a missionary meeting, in away equally expres- 
sive of his ignorance and his piety. Some observations had 
been made on the labour requisite to acquire the languages, 
before a missionary could be able to address himself to the 
heathen, so as to be understood. Samuel, who was always 
impressed with the notion that he was called to be a mission- 
ary, and took his visionary voyage to the West Indies, noticed 
in a preceding page, as an intimation of it, not only saw his 
own way more clearly to go abroad, but believed he per- 
ceived a much shorter cut across the field of labour and travel 
for others. The Southwark gentleman was produced by him 
as an example of the power of truth to bless, without a 
knowledge of the language in which it was conveyed. This 
case seemed to impart new light — removed every impediment 
— set a missionary immediately upon his work ; and in its 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 241 

man invited him lo sp^nd a day at his house, 
stating, on Samuel observing that, as a stranger, 
he would not be able to find his way, that he 
would send his servant to conduct him thither. 
While he was yet in the vestry, taking a biscuit 
and a glass of wine — a treat with which he 
had been but rarely indulged in small country 
places — a lady entered, inquiring, under strong 
feeling, whether she could see the minister. 
Samuel supposing the inquiry to be for one of 
the preachers on the circuit, who was present, 
kept his seat. The preacher went up to the 
lady, and requested to know whether it was the 
person that had been preaching she wished to 
see. Casting a glance around the place, and 
seeing Samuel, she exclaimed, " O yes : that is 
the person." Samuel sprang from his seat, 
with his wine and biscuit in his hand, saying, 
" What do you please to want with me, ma- 
dam ?" " O, I wish to tell you, sir," was the 
reply, " what I felt while you were preaching. 

novelty, Samuel appeared to have lost sight of the apostle's 
observations on an "unknown tongue." His error lay, not 
in a distinction — had he been able to comprehend it — be- 
tween truth in the spirit and truth in the letter — between hu- 
man language as addressed to the ear, and the power of God 
as felt in the heart — between sound and sense — between 
what a man may hear and what he may feel ; — but in taking 
it for granted, that it was that portion of the address which 
the gentleman did not understand, rather than that which he 
did, which was so beneficial to him — in taking it for granted 
that a special case might be applied as a general rule — and 
in supposing that the use of the understanding would be sus- 
pended rather than the word should return void, and the 
work of grace should not go on. He now, in his simplicity, 
added to his call, his qualification — the latter founded on an 
erroneous view of the overwhelming power of God. 
16 



242 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

A trembling came all over me, and I could not 
hold a limb still." Samuel, who had but one 
cause for all these things, and happened to be 
correct in this instance, as well as in many 
others, said, " It is the work of the Spirit of 
God, and we will return the Lord thanks for it." 
The proposition was accepted ; and he ob- 
served, " Though she was dressed in fine silks, 
which crackled again, she knelt down on the 
vestry floor, and, while pleading, the Lord 
blessed her soul." 

Another case came under his observation, 
which was more obstinate than that of the lady, 
and assumed to him an air of novelty. He was 
sent to pray with a gentleman, whose affliction 
was stated to him to be a " nervous complaint." 
His own nerves being of a wiry make — living 
in a neighbourhood of health — and moving 
generally among that class of people whose 
nervous system is kept continually braced by 
labour and by the breeze, he had to take both 
his head and his heart to school on the subject. 
The malady assumed an awful appearance to 
him ; for when he entered the room, he re- 
marked, that the person " was sunk so low, 
that he lay on the sofa like a dead man." As 
he had but one cause for the stirrings of the 
human spirit, so he had but one cure for most 
of our maladies. Faith in Christ was his heal- 
cflly and was his grand specific here. He spent 
nearly a whole day with the gentleman, either 
praying with him, or sitting by his side, singing 
hymns, relating his experience, exhorting him 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 243 

to the exercise of faith. In his addresses he 
told him 3 that it was only u holy medicine'' that 
" could cure" him, and that " all the doctors in 
London could not cure a nervous complaint, for 
it was a soul-complaint." On parting, the gen- 
tleman entreated him to repeat his visit, and 
added, " I would freely give all I possess to be 
as happy as you are." This case made a deep 
impression on Samuel's mind, and in his reflec- 
tions afterward, he remarked, " I % pity any one 
who is troubled with this dreadful complaint ; 
but 1 believe many fall into it for want of faith. 
They reason with themselves, and with the 
enemy, instead of reasoning with God, who 
says, [ Come, and let us reason together.' " 
Little as honest Samuel knew of the subject, 
he might have been farther wrong, than in sup- 
posing that mental agony will induce physical 
debility. While we cease to wonder that the 
gentleman should look upon his state as envia- 
ble, we are convinced that no one, except a 
child in spirit, could have sat and sung hymns 
by the side of so much misery — of one whose 
spirit was tuned only for a " dark-woven lay." 

The principal part of his time was occupied 
in visiting the sick, and in attending the ordi- 
nances of God ; and thus engaged, he might 
well say, " I was very happy all the time I was 
in London." Business requiring his presence 
at home, he remained only a month in the me- 
tropolis. 

His second visit was in 1827, but the day 
and the month when he set off are uncertain ; 



244 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

a correspondent connected with the family 
stating it to have been in May, while a letter 
written by himself bears testimony of his 
having been in Yorkshire in the month of July. 
The memory might have possibly been depend- 
ed upon in the first instance ; and the first visit 
having been in May, might have been the oc- 
casion of the error. His daughter Rosamond 
had entered the marriage state with Mr. Wrath- 
all, in the interval of his visits. This took 
place in 1824; and it was on account of her 
long and severe indisposition that he took the 
present journey. The following brief narrative 
of this excellent woman, whom it may be pro- 
per here to introduce, was published in the 
obituary of the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, 
by the Rev. Richard Reece.* 

" Mrs. Rosamond Wrathall was daughter of 
Mr. Samuel Hick, of Micklefield, Yorkshire ; 
a man generally known, and highly esteemed 
for his usefulness among the Methodists for 
nearly half a century ; and who, with his pious 
wife, considered it their duty to impress upon 
the minds of their children the great truths of 
the gospel. Early indications were given that 
the heart of Mrs. Wrathall was under the influ- 



* 1828, p. 499. A curious "Prospectus for publishing the 
Life of the late Samuel Hick, of Micklefield," issued from 
the press in the summer of 1830, which promised to "con- 
tain the experience and happy death of Mrs. Rathall of 
London, daughter of the deceased, who died while he was 
in London." It is presumed that the late Mrs. Wrathall 
was intended by the author, and that, through his ignorance 
of the subject, he adopted another name. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 245 

ence of divine grace. At the age of seven 
years her mind was enlightened to see the evil 
nature and dreadful consequences of sin. Al- 
though she was humble and teachable, and very- 
dutiful and affectionate to her parents, yet she 
felt the need of pardon, and of the purification 
of her nature. The period at which she re- 
ceived the blessing of justification through faith 
in the merits of Christ is unknown ; but it must 
have been at an early age. During the whole 
of her Christian course she was an ornament 
to her profession, and was greatly attached to 
the Methodist connection. She refrained from 
evil speaking, and used her influence to restrain 
the practice of it in others. She put on the or- 
nament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in 
the sight of God of great price. Her disposi- 
tion was naturally generous ; and after her con- 
version she was constantly devising liberal 
things. She spared no labour nor expense to 
alleviate the necessities of the poor, and lead 
them to Christ. She was a pattern of integrity 
and piety. At the commencement of her long 
affliction, she was deeply convinced of the need 
of a farther work of grace upon her heart ; and 
desired that her excellent father might be sent 
for, that she might enjoy the benefit of his 
counsel and faithful prayers." 

Samuel, after a safe journey, alighted at the 
Saracen's Head, and proceeded to the house of 
his son-in-law. He found Mrs. W. very much 
indisposed. The blessing she sought had been 
the subject of his preaching and conversation 



246 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

for many years, as well as the experience of 
his soul ; and his child's anxiety for it led him 
to dwell upon it more than usual, in public and 
in private, as also in his correspondence during 
his stay in London. " Her mind," continues 
Mr. Reece, " became more and more calm and 
stayed upon God ; she received the blessing of 
entire sanctification, which she so much de- 
sired, and continued in the exercise of prayer 
and thanksgiving to the end of her life." 

During Samuel's second stay in this human 
ant-hill, whose swarms are always in motion, 
and whose streets gave him the notion, in his 
own language, of a constant "fair" he labour- 
ed under the impression that a great work was 
to be done — done instantly — and that he was 
to sustain a share in the toil and in the glory. 
He sighed over the irreligious part of the com- 
munity, composed, as he stated, of " Jews, 
Turks, Infidels, and Barbarians," all of whom 
might " believe" in the existence of a " God," 
but " lived as though there were none ;" con- 
cluding, that if it were not for the " few right- 
eous" to be found in the city, it would at once 
be "destroyed like Sodom." With these vie\YS, 
and with a heart thus affected, he embraced 
every opportunity of rendering himself useful, 
and could speak of having " plenty of work" — 
of being often " tired in it, but not of it" — of 
" preaching in chapels and in the open air" — of 
making " collections for chapels and for schools" 
— of " visiting the sick" — attending "lovefeasts" 
— assisting in " prayer meetings" — -dining and 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 247 

praying on board some of the vessels on the 
Thames — and, in the midst of all this, of hav- 
ing "plenty of friends," and of being "hearty 
and happy." One of the vessels having to per- 
form only a short voyage, and having reached 
her destination before he left town, returning 
with fruit and spice, he took care devoutly to 
connect with his notice of her safety, the prayer 
meeting which he himself and some friends 
held " in the cabin," before her departure ; and 
also to exhort Martha, who was not likely to be 
benefited by any part of the cargo, to make pro- 
gress in piety, and both he and she would here- 
after be indulged with a taste of the " grapes" of 
the kingdom, and with " wine on the lees, well 
refined." It was here that he not only attempt- 
ed to moralize, but to philosophize ; stating it 
to be his opinion, that if the Lord had not 
" sent the tide through the city, to sweeten the 
air, a plague" would have been the result ; as 
though the tide had followed rather than pre- 
ceded the foundation of its walls. But Sam- 
uel was a Christian, not a philosopher ; his 
head was less the receptacle of knowledge than 
his heart was of grace. While he laboured as 
though the immortal interests of the whole of 
the inhabitants of the city rested upon him, he 
cast a glance of solicitude toward home, telling 
Martha, that it was not " out of sight, out of 
mind:" and requesting to be informed how she 
was " in body and soul ;" repeatedly forwarding 
her not only " parcels," but what he knew she 
"liked" — a "cheap letter." His letters indi- 



248 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

cate also deep anxiety for the prosperity of the 
work of God at Micklefield ; and, among others, 
an ardent desire for the salvation of a " Mr. 
Coulson." Nor did he forget his "old servant 
Jackey," whom he wished to be attended to, 
and preserved in his blindness from falling into 
the u bogs."* His desire to be useful led him 
to request Martha to enlarge his "furlough;" 
intimating at the same time his readiness to re- 
turn on the first notice of his being "wanted at 
home." 

The only personal indisposition of which he 
had to complain was a slight attack of cholera 
morbus, which he believed he had caught from 
one of the young men resident in the house, 
and which he therefore characterized as "smit- 
tle"\ Qne of the most relieving considerations 

* His partiality to this animal arose chiefly from the cir- 
cumstance of its having carried the Rev. David S toner 
around the York circuit, to whom he was warmly attached?, 
both as an eminent servant of God, and as having been bora 
near his own home. And yet, for this very attachment, 
Samuel might have stood rebuked by his own words. Being 
at Aberford fair once, and walking, with his friend Mr. Daw- 
son among the crowd, he was met by an acquaintance. 
"You look cast down," said Samuel ; "what is the matter 
with you?" "I have lost a fine horse," was the reply, 
naming its value. " Why, bless you, man, you made a god 
of it, and worshipped it : I worshipped a fine ewe once, and 
God took her away from me." Such was Samuel's consola- 
tion under loss, and such his occasional views of improper 
attachments. 

t A provincialism, denoting any thing contagious. He 
was not a little delighted with what he considered a triumph 
over the ignorance of some of the metropolitans, who had 
consulted the English Dictionary for the term, he having 
told them in the course of his sermon, that " sin was smitr 
tie" — exhorting them to keep at the utmost distance from it 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 249 

to his mind under it was — and this shows his 
anxiety to be useful — that it had not been per- 
mitted to "take" him from his "work." The 
sudden death of a female — the affliction of his 
daughter — and the daily funeral processions 
along the streets of the city, produced a quick- 
ening influence upon his soul, and furnished 
him with seasonable preaching and conversa- 
tional topics, grounding on the whole the ne- 
cessity of a constant preparation for another 
state of being. 

His peculiarities in manner and dialect at- 
tracted attention ; and among others with whom 
he conversed, and who were induced to hear 
him preach, were some persons of the Baptist 
persuasion. While a few of these contested 
the doctrine of " entire sanctiflcation" with him, 
others of them admitted its necessity and at- 
tainment. One of the latter addressed a letter 
to him on the subject, which he intended to 
insert in his " Life." Treating on it in a letter 
to Martha, he observed, "I have preached ever 
since I came to London, a full, free, and present 
salvation ; and I will continue to preach it while 
I have life and strength. Thousands have 
heard me. I have told them, that if the king 
were to make a decree, that the man preaching 
this doctrine should have his head taken off, I 
would at once go to the block, proclaiming as I 
went, with a loud voice, that holiness belong- 
eth unto the house of the Lord for ever, and 
would there die for it like a martyr." 

Preaching in one of the chapels, on " Blessed 



250 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," 
a female who had heard him, professed to have 
received the blessing, after having sought it for 
the space of seventeen years. A young man 
also bore the same testimony, in one of the 
lovefeasts. Some of these cases were entered 
into his home epistolary correspondence, add- 
ing to the narrations, " You see what a poor 
instrument the Lord can work with !— either by 
a ram's horn, or by the crowing of a cock. But 
he shall have the glory ; he will not give it to 
another; he has purchased it with his blood." 
These intimations led Martha to look upon his 
state with a little jealousy; and on furnishing 
him with a portion of ballast — a labour of love 
for which she was well qualified and always 
ready — he replied to her, " I am thankful for 
your advice ; and I hope God will keep me in 
the dust. I assure you, I have often to cry out, 
* Lord, enlarge my heart, and fill it.' I some- 
times think I shall sink under the weight of 
love : and if I should be called away in such a 
state, O how sweet it will be to fall asleep in 
the arms of Jesus !" 

While urging his hearers to seek holiness, 
he broke out on one occasion, somewhat in the 
following strain : — " If any of you had a sum 
of money left to you by a friend, you would put 
in your claim and prove the will. Jesus Christ 
has made his will ; and his will is your sancti- 
fication. You may put in your claim for the 
blessing by simple faith. The property belongs 
to every believer. Our Lord made a just will. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 251 

He left all his children share and share alike ; 
the youngest the same blessing as the oldest. 
* The weakest believer that hangs upon him' 
may have it. It is faith that lays claim to it. 
Faith says, ' It is my property.' Faith has two 
hands. It takes hold of the blessing with the 
one, and continues to hold it fast by the other. 
Stretch out the hand of faith then. Take the 
property your dear Lord has purchased for you, 
and for all believers." This is truth in russet 
costume : and yet, homely though it be, it is 
not only more dignified in its character, but the 
imagery is better selected, as well as more con- 
sistently supported, than that which has been 
sometimes employed by doctors and digni- 
taries.* 

What gave him peculiar pleasure, in re- 
ference to his favourite theme of sanctiflcation, 
was, the circumstance of receiving an invitation 
to take tea with two of the preachers, at the 
house of a lady who had travelled the path of 
holiness upward of half a century, and who had 
entertained the venerable founder of Method- 
ism. With this Christian matron he compared 

* In a sermon preached at court, the celebrated Dr. 
South remarks, in speaking of the delights of a soul " cla- 
rified" by grace, " No man, at the years and vigour of thirty, 
is either fond of sugar-plums or rattles." Another observation 
is, " No man would preserve the itch on himself, only for 
the pleasure of scratching." — Sermons, Serm. I, Prov. iii, 17. 

Archbishop Tillotson, in his thanksgiving Sermon be- 
fore the king and queen, October 27th, 1692, on Jer. ix, 23, 
24, speaking of his majesty's preservation in the field of 
battle, says, " I do not believe, that from the first use of 
great guns to that day, any mortal man ever had his shoulder 
so kindly kissed by a cannon bullet." 



252 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

notes ; and remarked, " She has enjoyed pure 
religion ever since Mr. Wesley's day ; and the 
best of all is, she enjoys it now. It is natural 
for us to talk about that which we love. Her 
experience is just the same as mine. I am 
glad when I find any one that enjoys the bless- 
ing." 



CHAPTER XL 

Continues in London — An epitome of a week's labour — 
Mrs. WrathalPs religious enjoyments— Samuel meets with 
one converted Jew, and attempts the Christian improve- 
ment of another — Preaches out of doors — Visits Michael 
Angelo Taylor, Esq. — Farther account of Mrs. Wrathall — 
Samuel's usefulness — His love of Yorkshire — Enjoys a ride 
into the country — Goes into Kent — Tent-preaching — Is re- 
proved for loud praying — His views of death— Spiritualizes 
a thunder-storm — An African — Mrs. Wrathall 's death — 
Samuel visits Windsor — Is rendered a blessing to the people 
— Returns to London — Is called into Yorkshire to preach a 
funeral sermon. 

In following Samuel during his residence in 
the metropolis, it will furnish some variety, if 
special cognizance be taken of the more inci- 
dental part of his history. His life was one of 
incident : every motion, like scenic representa- 
tion, told on the eye and the ear of the by- 
stander, unfolding his habitudes and feelings. 
Though no regular journal was kept, the fol- 
lowing may be considered as nearly in the 
order, with two or three exceptions, in which 
the occurrences and conversations took place. 

July. — Persons visiting the metropolis, like 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 253 

those who cross the line for the first time, are 
obliged to conform to certain ceremonies, if not 
of dipping, at least in dressing. Samuel's 
raiment was generally plain, both in cut and 
quality ; and when not employed in the smithy, 
extremely clean. His coat was rarely per- 
mitted to altar its fashion.* The change in 
London, however, was not so much in the 
shape, as in the quality — from plain to super- 
fine. " My son," said he to Martha, " has 
ordered me a suit of new clothes ; and your dear 
Ann, whom you love, has bought me a new 
hat : I never had such a hat on my head in my 
life before." This was as much the result of 
kindness as of necessity. Improved in his 
appearance, and requested to supply a few 
places for the Rev. R. Reece, with whose plan 
he was presented as his credential, during his 
engagements at the Conference, he traversed 
the city, in something more than his ordinary 
character, when at home, at Micklefield; and 
Martha's lectures on humility were as necessary 
occasionally to suppress the stirrings of vanity 
— vanity, however, in some of its least offensive 
forms, and without much of the consciousness 
of its presence — as they were kindly taken. 
His daughter, with a child's fondness, wrote 
home in one of his lettters, in the early part of 

* He was once, in the way of compliment, presented by a 
friend with a pair of "handsome new trousers. But they 
were so ill adapted to his person, habits, and other costume, 
that when thus adorned, it looked like the last and present 
century united in the same man ; or as though the half of 
him belonged to some one besides himself. 



254 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

this month, — " My dear mother, I will give you 
part of father's weekly work. He went to 
Southwark chapel on Monday morning, at five 
o'clock ; from whence a young gentleman took 
him home to breakfast, and kept him the whole 
of the day. He went to a fellowship meeting 
at night, and did not reach home till ten o'clock. 
On Wednesday morning he preached at City- 
Road at six o'clock, and did not arrive here till 
tea time. After tea he went to preach at 
Albion-street ; and to-day he has been at Chelsea 
missionary meeting. It is now ten o'clock, 
and he has just arrived by coach. I assure you 
•my dear father is in high glee. He tells us 
that he has had a good time ; and that, while he 
was speaking, the persons upon the platform 
almost stamped it down.* They all shook 
hands with him, told him they were obliged to 
him for his services, and paid his coach-fare. 
Wherever he goes, the people invite him back 
again. You see how your husband is be- 
loved." 

Though Mrs. W. was pleased with the 
respect paid to her father — and it would have 
been strange if a little natural feeling had not 
escaped — she remained the same humble 

* Samuel himself was in the habit of stamping, not only 
when others were speaking, but when he himself spoke. A 
singular scene took place some time prior to this, and nearer 
his own home. Addressing an audience at a public meeting, 
and being very animated, his ponderous movements shook the 
whole platform. Just at the moment of applying a subject, 
and saying, " Thus it was that the prophets went," the part 
on which he stood gave way, and he instantly disappeared. 
Fortunately no injury was sustained. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 255 

Christian as before ; nor was it with Samuel 
any thing else but the mere ebullition of the 
moment. Personal piety seemed to include 
every thing besides, both in himself and in 
others ; and the progress of it was particularly 
watched in his daughter. " I believe," said he, 
in writing of her to his partner, " the Lord has 
sent me to London to learn gratitude from the 
heart of your own flesh and blood. I never 
saw such a happy creature, or one more thank- 
ful, in all my life. She has often been made a 
blessing to my soul since I came hither ; and 
not only to me, but to others, who come to see 
her in her affliction. She enjoys perfect love 
— that which casts out all fear — and is fit either 
for living or dying. I often think, if you were 
to see her in this happy state, it would rejoice 
your heart. It is above all riches to see a dear 
child of ours so happy. Her dear husband out- 
strips all the men I ever saw for affection. 
She wants for nothing that the world can 
bestow : and your dear Ann waits upon her with 
tenderness. They are like a three-fold cord, 
twisted together in love. We have nothing but 
peace, joy, and love." These endearments, 
together with the kindness of friends, and an 
extensive field of usefulness, led him further to 
observe to Martha, " I find a noble body of 
Methodists in this city, and I am very glad I 
am one of the members of this noble family. If 
I had you with me, we would end our days 
here." 

As nearly all classes of persons attached 



256 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

themselves to him in the line in which he 
moved, so he found himself comfortable every- 
where ; and hence spoke of having " many 
homes" — not being " able to supply all" his 
friends with his society. Among others who 
clung to him was a Jew ; but whether on ac- 
count of his piety or singularity, is unknown. 
A Jew, to Samuel, was as great a phenomenon 
in society as he also was an extraordinary 
specimen of an adherent of the Christian faith, 
Of this singular people he knew very little, 
except what he had collected from the Bible. 
Impressions of distance, both as to time and 
place, with him were always connected with 
their history ; and through his associating the 
holy city and the personal manifestation of 
Christ among them in all his reflections he 
could scarcely have been more interested, if 
the fable of the wandering Jew had been realized 
in his presence, or if a Hebrew had stolen out 
of the sepulchre of his fathers at Jerusalem, 
and, in his travels, had reached England, than 
the concern he felt in looking upon the person 
in question. " I was planned," said he, " to 
preach in City-Road vestry, and I got into 
company with a converted Jew. He is a fine 
young man, and is as clear in his experience 
as I am. I was delighted with his company. 
A pious lady has sent him over to London to 
be instructed in divine things. His parents 
have turned him out of doors for becoming a 
Christian ; but the Lord has taken him into his 
family. He is going to college, and he asked 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 257 

me to go with him." The young man must 
either have been extremely ignorant of human 
character, or disposed to amuse himself with 
the weaker part of Samuel's nature, in making 
to him such a proposal. However, Samuel 
told him that he had been at " Jesus Christ's 
college," where he had " taken up" his " de- 
grees." He took breakfast and dinner with this 
young convert, and found a difficulty in parting 
with him. 

The interest this case excited, led him to 
think more than usual on the state of the Jews ; 
and turning his attention to them, they seemed 
to multiply in his sight as he passed along the 
streets. This gave rise to his expression, that 
the city appeared to be filled u with Jews, 
Turks, and Infidels." A genuine son of Abra- 
ham kept a jeweller and silversmith's shop 
opposite his daughter's house. He often looked 
at Samuel while passing his door, with the 
characteristic keenness and expectation of a 
London Israelitish tradesman, hoping to benefit 
by the ignorance of an inexperienced country- 
man. But his soul possessed superior attrac- 
tion to Samuel than either his shop or his 
window ; and he was not without hope that he 
might be of service to him. With unusual 
caution and deliberation, he paced backward 
and forward before the old gentleman's door. 
The morning was pleasant, in which he re- 
joiced. He had not been there long before 
the object of his desire made his appearance. 
Thev exchanged looks, when Samuel accosted 
17 



258 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

him, " Bless the Lord ! here is a fine morning." 
"It ish, it ish fery fine," replied the Jew; im- 
mediately inquiring — as he was old, and could 
not go into the city to seek it — " Yat pe te beshfc 
news in te city V 3 " The best news that I can 
hear," replied Samuel, "is, that Jesus Christ is 
pardoning sinners, and sanctifying believers." 
" Poh, poh," rejoined the old man, turning up his 
face, " tuff and nonshensh ! it ish all telushion." 
Samuel was as ill prepared for this, as the Jew 
had been for what he had advanced, and ob- 
served, with a view to produce instantaneous 
conviction — as he concluded the testimony of 
his own experience would be every way de- 
monstrative to both Jew and Gentile — " If it be 
a delusion, it is a blessed delusion ; for I am very 
happy in it. No, no, sir : I know better. I 
have known for the last forty years that Jesus 
Christ has power upon earth to forgive sins, 
and also to cleanse from all unrighteousness." 
Alas, for Samuel, he ploughed only on the rock : 
the old man turned his back upon him in a rage, 
as though Samuel had intended to insult him — 
entered his shop — and shut the door in his face. 
Samuel looked after him with the disappoint- 
ment of a fowler, who, having discharged hib 
piece, and expecting the game to drop at a 
short distance, sees it on the wing and un- 
touched; yet expressed his gratitude, in "no 
being numbered with unbelievers." It is no 
a little amusing to find him in the chair ol 
Lavater after this, pronouncing his ODinion with 
the precision of a physiognomist. " I can tell 






THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 259 

a Jew," said he, " as I pass him on trie street ; 
for his countenance is gloomy and dark ; not 
like that of the Christian, which is cheerful and 
pleasant : and who has such a right to be cheer- 
ful as the man that has Christ formed in him 
the hope of glory ?"* 

On finding that he could make but little im- 
pression upon the Jew, he again turned to the 
Gentile. The " morning meetings," at five 
and six o'clock, which were well attended, were 
among the most salutary he enjoyed. On one 
occasion, a foreigner, who had attended out of 
curiosity, was deeply affected, and three persons 
professed to have received the blessing of 
purity. After the meetings he was often taken 
away to visit the sick, and pray with the 
penitent. One of the persons who came before 
him he suspected to be affected with worldly 
sorrow ; and this is the more remarkable, as he 
had more charity than judgment in all cases of* 

* This was not his first attempt at physiognomy; nor 
was he peculiar in his views on the subject. He had read 
Isaiah, who, in speaking of certain characters, says, " The 
show of their countenance doth witness against them ;" and 
he had a notion that religion would improve the exterior, as 
well as the interior, of every human being. These views 
escaped in prayer once, while he was imploring the blessing 
of God upon a female who acted in the capacity of cook in 
a family which he visited. Having heard a little of the 
person in question, and having inferred, from the peculiar 
curvature and expression of the face, that she was not 
blessed with a redundancy of the milder qualities which 
grace the softer part of creation, he prayed for the subjuga- 
tion of every improper temper ; and as an inducement to her 
to seek after personal piety, he said he was sure, " if her 
soul were converted to God, she would look five pounds 
better than she did then." 



260 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

distress*: another he was called to visit— a 
stationer — was in deep despair. With a view 
to attract persons who never attended a place 
of worship, he turned out into the street, and 
stood up, accompanied by a local preacher, in 
a large square. The householders threw open 
their windows to listen to him, and the people 
continued to crowd around him, till the con- 
gregation might be denominated large. A 
person, in a state of intoxication, threw a bunch 
of flowers at him, and was otherwise turbulent. 
Some of the friends were about to remove him 
by violence, when Samuel said, " Let him 
alone ; he cannot hurt me, and I am sure I shall 
not harm him." The man was subdued by the 
mildness of the address. " The lion's mouth," 
said Samuel, " was stopped." While preach- 
ing he felt great tenderness of spirit. This was 
soon manifested by the people ; for, in the 
language of Creech, " The melted is the melt- 
ing heart." He exhorted — he beseeched — he 
reproved — he wept — the people wept in con- 
cert with him — and having forgotten his pocket- 
handkerchief, he borrowed one of a friend, to 
wipe away the tears which rolled down his face. 
The bunch of flowers was hailed by him as a 
slight expression of " persecution," in the 
honours pronounced on which he " rejoiced." 

Samuel was one who could more readily re- 
collect a kindness than an injury; and con- 
sidering himself indebted to Michael Angelo 
Taylor, Esq., for his license, who then resided 
in London, and viewing him withal, in his own 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 261 

words, as an " old neighbour," he went to 
White-Hall to pay his respects to him. The 
statesman expressed himself as glad to see him, 
inquiring the occasion which had brought him 
to town. On being informed that it was the 
affliction of his daughter, Mr. T. signified his 
regret. Samuel, on the contrary, told him he 
felt no sorrow on her account, for she was 
" very happy, and ready for her passage to 
glory." Mr. T. ordered the butler to give him 
some refreshment ; the apparent kindness, 
prompting which, was of greatejr value to 
Samuel, than the most costly viands. 

Samuel remarked toward the close of the 
month, as Mrs. WrathalPs health still declined, 
" Our dear child will be safe landed on Canaan's 
happy shore in a short time. I never saw such 
a patient creature as she is. She has not much 
pain, and will have nothing to do but fall asleep. 
She began to change last week, and grows 
weaker and weaker." Two or three days after, 
he observed, " I have just been giving your 
dear child her breakfast. If you only saw her 
in her affliction — so thankful, so happy, I am 
sure it would rejoice your heart. If she is 
spared a little longer, it will be for the glory 
of God and the good of those that come to see 
her. She has many friends : I can scarcely go 
anywhere but I find them. Your dear Ann is 
a miracle. She is not afraid of going out to 
hear me preach. I hope both you and me, and 
all our children, and even our children's children, 
to the third and fourth generation, will meet at 



262 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

God's right hand." On the 30th of the month, 
he added, "Your dear child is very happy :" 
then proceeding to generalize, " we are all 
peace : Ann and I have been taking some re- 
freshment together, and have just been at the 
family altar. I hope you do not forget this 
duty ; and be sure you do not pinch yourself for 
comforts. I often think of you when I sit down 
to a good dinner, and wish I had you, my dear, 
to share it with me. But if we do not sit down 
at one table now, we shall eat at our Father's 
table together hereafter. My lot is cast in a 
pleasant place. When I want to retire to read 
or write, I have a room to go into. I would 
not swap (exchange) place with the best noble- 
man in this city." 

August. — This month presents but little 
variety, besides the regular work of preaching, 
praying, and visiting, with the exception of a 
quickening influence in one of the prayer- 
meetings, which was held after he had preached, 
in which a person of the Roman Catholic 
persuasion was awakened. Having to go a 
considerable distance to his lodgings, he de* 
parted from the place about ten o'clock at night, 
leaving, as he expressed himself, " the friends 
pleading for the slain." Before the close of 
the month, his Yorkshire phrases, his zeal, and 
the influence attending his homely addresses, 
rendered him rather conspicuous among his 
fellows. To this he was not altogether blind ; 
and remarked in the confidence of a man to his 
wife, " I am well known in London : the more 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 263 

work I do the more I have to do ; and when it 
will all be done I cannot tell. I have great 
pleasure in it. The Lord is saving souls." 
Then, as before, he urged Martha not to pinch 
herself; " for," he added, " I am sure we have 
as much as will keep you; and as for me, my 
Master, whom I love and serve, will supply all 
my needs out of his abundant fulness. The 
earth is his own property." This was not the 
language that arises out of satiety from present 
indulgence, on rinding himself seated at the 
table of his son-in-law, but of confidence in God, 
who blesses the labourer with his hire, because 
worthy of it. He had no anxiety on his own 
account ; it only found a place in his bosom for 
others ; and toward these it was generally 
exercised rather in reference to the present 
exigencies of any particular case than with a 
view to the future destiny of the individual 
concerned. His faith in the goodness, power, 
and veracity of God, would never suffer him to 
bring the trials of to-morrow on those of to-day ; 
or by afflictive forebodings to go out and meet 
his exercises half way : and even " the evil" of 
" the day," which ought to be deemed " sufficient" 
by all intelligent beings, was deprived of great 
part of its weight with Samuel, and thus rendered 
light and momentary, through the grace by which 
he was supported, and the glorious hope of a 
blessed immortality. Nothing but personal piety 
could have enabled him to overcome parental 
feeling so far as to give him the appearance of 
being not only all peace, but. covered with 



264 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

sunshine at the gate of heaven, and just on the 
point of entering, in the midst of a beloved 
daughter's affliction. At the close of this month, 
as on that of the preceding one, he had only to 
report increasing debility with regard to Mrs. 
W. " Ann and I have been getting up your 
dear afflicted child. She is very happy in soul, 
but very weak in body." He waked and watched 
by her with a solicitude like that of a mother 
rather than that of a father, and never permitted 
his public labours to intrench upon the atten- 
tions demanded by natural affection. 

September. — Though happy among the per- 
sons with whom he associated, his joys were 
considerably increased on any arrival from 
Yorkshire, whether it turned up in the shape of 
a human face, a letter, or a message. Among 
several persons noticed, no one was viewed 
with more unmingled pleasure than W. Scarth, 
Esq., of Leeds, who invited him to take tea at 
his lodgings — the house of the widow of the 
late Rev. C. Atmore— " Where," said Samuel, 
" we spent a little bit comfortable time together." 
Mr. S. told him that his presence and labours 
would be required at home : this, with an oral 
communication from Ratcliffe Close, to pay 
another visit to that place, where he had been 
so useful among the Sunday-school children, 
operated upon him like the promise of a week's 
work to a poor man, who is overjoyed with the 
tidings of a second job before the first is finished. 
His only wish for life arose from his desire to 
be usefuL 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 265 

Next to a friend from Yorkshire was the de- 
light he experienced in again beholding the 
face of God's creation, in a view of the country. 
His eye had been accustomed to rove over the 
beauty, the wildness, and the freshness of open 
rural scenery ; and though he knew not the sen- 
timent of the writer who said, " God made the 
country, but man made the town ;" yet he felt 
like a person who saw more of his Maker's 
hand in the trees and in the shrubs than in a 
range of buildings — like one whose eye had not 
only a wider range, but whose lungs had some- 
thing like fair play, and with whom respiration 
seemed to be aided. Mr. Knight drove him 
fifteen miles into the country in a gig. He 
felt like a child let loose from the nursery. 
Absence had given additional richness to the 
verdure. " I was glad," said he, " to see the 
fields look so green. The, Lord is sending us a 
Michaelmas summer, and a fine seed-time. He 
is making up for the loss of last year. Bless 
his dear name ! he is very kind to us. After 
taking the rod to us, he then shows us his sal- 
vation. He never does wrong : he does all in 
love ; and it is well done. What we know not 
now, we shall know hereafter." 

He was favoured with a still farther treat, in 
being taken into Kent, by Mr. Cooper, who 
married his niece, and with whom he remained 
a fortnight. On his return he made a collec- 
tion for a Sunday school ; and such was the 
concourse of people, that he was obliged to 
preach out of doors. The collection amounted 



266 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH 

to about double the sum to what it had been on 
any former occasion. 

Mr. Pocock's plan of tent-preaching, which 
had reached the metropolis, presented a novel 
scene to Samuel ; and in one of these he held 
forth the word of life. But in no meeting, of a 
purely religious character, did he appear so 
much in his element as in those he held after 
preaching, to which there has been such re- 
peated reference. In one of these, in the 
course of this month, after he had made a col- 
lection for a chapel, which had undergone some 
repairs, he gave the people an account of a plan 
adopted in the York circuit, during a revival. 
He told them that the friends " set three 
benks"* (benches,) — one for penitents — another 
for backsliders — and a third for those that 
wanted full salvation ; and that while they sung 
a verse or two of a hymn, the people filled the 
benks. They then went to prayer, and the 
Lord poured out his Spirit upon them. Whether 
this systematic plan was adopted by the me- 

* This appears to be from the Saxon bene, a long seat ; as 
banc, in the same language, signifies a long heap of earth. 
It is hence that our bench is derived. Bankan, a bank; 
maingk, beinse, and benk, a bench ; bank and bench being one 
and the same word, signifying a long sitting place, as in 
the case of the British judges, who sat for ages upon banks 
instead of benches. It is the same with the Irish bale, 
which answers to the bale of the Welsh, and denotes a balk 
of land, as also does a bench. Banquet is supposed to be a 
slip of the same root. Banquegeal is to feast, and banuez, 
banket is a feast ; the idea being taken from sitting to a table, 
as cinio is a feast ; and ciniau, cuynos a table, from sitting 
on banks or benches to it, as banquette, in French, is at 
present a small bank in fortification. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 267 

tropolitans on the occasion is not stated : but 
it is affirmed that ten persons were blessed, 
— some with pardon, and others with the sancti- 
fication of the Spirit. He closed the month by 
attending one of the quarterly meetings, and by 
preaching at St. George's chapel. His ex- 
cellent daughter continued to approach nearer 
and nearer the grand boundary line which 
divides time and eternity — her fairest prospects 
on the one side, and her infirmities only on 
the other. 

October. — While some of the preachers 
and friends were characterized by Samuel as 
" flames of fire," there were others who were 
less favourable to his mode of proceeding, and 
of course required more zeal. But having only 
one straight-forward course, admonitory inter- 
positions were generally fruitless. A female, 
having been convinced of sin while he was 
preaching on Rom. viii, 13, was in deep dis- 
tress in one of the prayer meetings. He knelt 
down to pray for her ; and experiencing unusual 
freedom, he elevated his voice to an extraor- 
dinary height. " One of the London preachers," 
said he, " came to me, and pulled me by the 
coat. I asked him what was the matter: and 
he told me not to pray so loud, as another 
person was in distress in the chapel, and it 
produced confusion. But I took no notice of 
the discharge : I prayed on till the Lord set her 
soul at liberty, and she declared it in the great 
congregation." He added, " It is better to 
obey God than man." He had never learned 



268 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

to sound a retreat : " Onward? was his motto 
in every thing that concerned the soul ; and 
this he was constantly urging upon others, as 
well as dwelling upon himself. To a friend he 
observed, about the same time, " I hope, my 
dear brother, you are still going on in the good 
old way, which leads to glory and to God. If 
we get religion to live with, we shall have 
religion to die with." Then, with no bad 
attempt at smartness, he asked, " Die, did I say 1 
No, that is a wrong term for a Christian. It 
is religion to fall asleep with. When David 
finished his work, he slept with his fathers. 
The prophets also fell asleep ; and St. Paul 
asks, ' O death, where is thy sting ? Thanks 
be to God, who giveth us the victory, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ."' It was the con- 
sciousness of preparation which he carried 
about with him, that deprived death of its 
terrors, and kept alive the notion of sleep — of a 
person just closing his eyes, and going to rest 
after the toils of the day. 

It was as natural for him to converse on re- 
ligious subjects as it was to breathe ; and 
almost as impossible for him to see or hear 
any thing, without connecting religion with it. 
After a tremendous night of thunder, lightning, 
wind, and rain, on the 10th of the month, he 
remarked, " We have been spared from the 
threatening storm by a kind Protector ; but I am 
afraid we shall hear of many lives being lost 
on the wide ocean. The rain has washed the 
tiles and the streets clean. The tiles look as 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 269 

if they were new. My prayer is, that God 
would send a thunder storm into every sinner's 
heart, and the lightning of his Spirit, to enlighten 
every sinner's conscience ; and that he would, 
by the precious blood of Christ, cleanse the 
hearts of all true believers, as he has washed 
the tiles and the streets of this city." 

He had laboured and prayed much for the 
heathen ; and though divided from them by seas 
and continents, a circumstance occurred, which 
appeared to bring them to his own door, in the 
person of a black, who sat as his hearer in one 
of the chapels. His hue awakened all Samuel's 
sympathies for the negroes of the West India 
Islands. So much was his mind absorbed in 
the subject, that the whole congregation of 
whites appeared to be concentrated in this 
swarthy son of Ham. He told them that God 
was no respecter of persons — that persons of 
all nations working righteousness were accepted 
of him — and that colour, size, and age, made 
no difference to him, provided they came as 
penitents to his footstool. Such were the effects 
produced by his pointed and personal appeals, 
that the black got up in the midst of the people, 
and attested the goodness of God personally to 
himself, in the forgiveness of all his sins. 
Samuel went home with him — he being«in com- 
fortable circumstances — and took supper with 
him ; and was pleased to find that " he had as 
clear a witness of the Spirit as a white man." 
The last expression would seem to indicate as 
though he had been infected with the slave- 



270 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

holder's cant, that negroes are an inferior race 
of beings, and incapable of improvement ; and 
for the weakest and most innocent minds to re- 
ceive a taint from the opinion, in its progress 
through European society, only shows the ne- 
cessity of mooting it, by opposing to it the stub 
bornness of fact, in instances of religious and 
intellectual improvement. 

Mr. Wrathall received a letter from Grassing- 
ton about this time, requesting his presence, on 
account of the indisposition of his uncle, to 
whom he was left executor, and who was in 
fact at the point of death. Mrs. WrathalFs 
increasing debility rendered the prospect of 
absence the more painful. However, the cer- 
tainty of her father's society was an agreeable 
compensation for the temporary loss proposed, 
[n writing home on the 11th, he remarked, 
" Your dear daughter Rosamond is much better 
this morning than she has been for some days 
past. We thought a few days ago she was 
about to enter her eternal rest. But the Lord 
does all things well. She has. been made a 
blessing to many. She expressed her thank- 
fulness for her food this morning, and gave out 
that verse, * We thank thee, Lord, for this our 
food.' I believe I shall have cause to bless 
God to all eternity for her." Her bodily im- 
provement, alas ! was but of short duration ; for 
she died on the 17th of the month, a blessed 
witness of the power of God to save to the 
uttermost. 

Samuel continued in London after the de- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 271 

cease of his daughter, till January, 1828, in the 
early part of which month he paid a visit to 
"Windsor, partly out of respect to it as the 
seat of royalty, and partly in compliance with 
an invitation from some friends ; and was 
escorted thither by a person from town. A 
pious soldier of the name of Wm. Emmott, a 
corporal in the Royal Horse Guards, was the 
only person with whom he had any acquaintance. 
He preached on the evening of his arrival, and 
held a prayer meeting afterward. So much 
were the people pleased and profited, that they 
requested him to remain with them a few days. 
Mr. Pollard, the superintendent, wrote to Miss 
Hick, his daughter, who was at Mr. Wrathall's, 
January 7th, stating his intention. Part of the 
note is, " Your father is going to stay with us 
at Windsor over the next sabbath. He is very 
happy and useful." Samuel added on the same 
page, " My dear child, this morning I am in 
my glory. The Lord poured out his Spirit at 
the prayer meeting last night. Four souls ob- 
tained liberty ; and many were blessed. If 
spared till to-morrow, I am bown to see Dr. 
Clarke. He has sent me word, that he will 
give me a week's board. There is a great 
work to do in this place ; and you know I love 
the Lord with all my heart. I have been at the 
king's stables, where my brother-in-law con- 
versed with his majesty. Our brother Jeb is 
with me, who will return to-day. God bless 
you all. You must take me in when I come." 
He was shown over the grounds and castle 



272 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

of Windsor. The road leading up to the 
palace, the flight of steps, the rooms, the paint- 
ings, and the extensive prospect from the sum- 
mit — presenting, he observed, " a view of 
twelve counties" — were what appeared to have 
fixed attention, and left his mind, like a " cham- 
ber of imagery," imbued with their various 
forms. And yet, much as he was impressed 
with these, they did not excite the emotions of 
which he was the subject, when he could con- 
nect any thing celestial or devotional with 
what passed in review. Thus the representa- 
tion of the late lamented Princess Charlotte, 
with her infant, ascending to heaven, fired his 
fancy, and melted his heart. " It was," in his 
own language, " as naturable (natural) as life." 
But fascinated as he was with this, a stronger 
feeling was produced — only not so permanent 
— by the sight of the old cushion — -to which 
allusion has been already made — upon which 
his Majesty George III. knelt during his morn- 
ing devotions. "The cushion,'' said Samuel, 
" was worn through with constant kneeling. 
I knelt me down upon it, and prayed that 
the time might come when all his majesty's 
subjects would wear out their cushions with 
praying." This " divine breathing," though 
oddly expressed, was sincere ; and few, per- 
haps, have been the persons that have ap- 
proached his prayerful example on visiting the 
royal domain. 

The following selections from a letter written 
just before he left Windsor will show the spirit 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 273 

in which he continued ; " Thursday was spent 
to the glory of God. I preached at Chertsey, 
about two miles from Windsor, at night, and 
held a prayer meeting. Many were blessed. 
Friday was spent in singing and in prayer. 
We had a prayer meeting at night. Bless the 
Lord ! after a good night's rest, I arose happy 
in my soul. I had a good preparation for the 
second sabbath of the new year. Praise the 
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. 
I preached on the Sunday forenoon, and held a 
lovefeast in the afternoon. It was a precious 
time to my soul : and the friends told me they 
never had such a lovefeast before. After 
preaching at night, we had a great outpouring 
of the Spirit of God. This is truly a wicked 
place. There are many soldiers in it. Method- 
ism is very low ; but I hope the time will come 
when it shall blossom like the rose. Most of 
the people in the town appear to be going the 
church- way, blindfold, to hell. The king has 
his residence at this place; and the people, 
like the Romans, must worship like their king. 
But I pray'that the churches may be supplied 
with gospel-preachers ; and then they will be 
filled with gospel-hearers. May the Lord hasten 
that happy day !" 

On his return to London, where it is probable 
his stay would have been still protracted, he 
found a summons from Yorkshire, requesting 
his presence, to discharge a debt of friendship. 
Mrs. Pullein, of Follifoot, had exacted a pro- 
mise from him, that in the event of his surviving 
18 



274 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

her, he should preach her funeral sermon. On 
her demise, the family wrote to Samuel. His 
friends told him it was not necessary he should 
go then, — that he should go on purpose, — or 
even take a journey at all of such a distance, 
at his age, and during such a season, to preach 
a single sermon, particularly as there were 
preachers in Yorkshire who could supply his 
lack of service. But though they knew the 
nature of a promise, they felt nothing of its 
responsibility pressing upon their consciences, 
and could therefore satisfy themselves with 
what they were not personally called upon to 
discharge. Samuel felt it in all its weight, and 
connected with it all the solemnities of the 
occasion, and said, " When I meet Mrs. Pullein 
in the morning of the resurrection, and she 
asks, * Sammy, did not you promise to preach 
my funeral sermon V what shall I say 1 I have 
promised, and must go." He obeyed the call. 
He took for his text Numbers xxiii, 10", " Let 
me die the death of the righteous ;" on reading 
which he closed the Bible, and said to the 
people, u Now, if you will live the life, you shall 
die the death of the righteous ; and much more 
than this I cannot tell you, if I were to preach 
to you ever so long." Though he had travelled 
upward of two hundred miles to preach this 
occasional sermon, he only spoke about ten 
minutes. 

His warm and kindly feelings, and the utter 
intractability of his nature to bend to the be- 
coming gravities, whether real or assumed, of 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 275 

funeral occasions, would sometimes disturb the 
serious aspect of a whole company. As he 
knew no feelings, except those which he or- 
dinarily carried about with him, so he had but 
one face, one attitude, one mode of expressing 
himself, whatever might be the event or the 
circumstances in which persons might be placed. 
His sincerity, and his ignorance of all etiquette, 
would admit of nothing else. Thus, several 
years prior to this, he was invited to attend 
the funeral of Mrs. W., of Garforth, on the 
occasion of whose death a sermon was preached, 
and afterward published, by the Rev. J. Wood. 
A cold collation was provided for the friends on 
the day of interment, which, as the company 
was large, was served up in a malt-kiln, where 
one party succeeded another, returning, when 
refreshed, to a large room. Samuel, with others, 
had made preparations for a funeral sermon. 
His text, he told the friends, was given to him 
in sleep ; on which occasion he had roused 
Martha, as he had done in reference to the 
dream which sealed his call to the ministry, and 
to which she paid equal attention, when the in- 
formation was communicated. The text was, 
" I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat." 
But honest Samuel, not being favoured with a 
concordance, was unable to advert to the book, 
the chapter, and the verse, where it was to be 
found, and therefore had to institute an inquiry 
among his friends for his farther satisfaction. 
He had a heart to receive the impression which 
truth made upon it, and memory sufficient to 



276 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

retain the sentiment, and often the form of ex- 
pression ; but, like many others, of much more 
reading, the common-place book of his recollec- 
tion could not in every instance carry the pen- 
man's title and his page. The mind being set 
at rest, as it regarded the text, and the excel- 
lences of the deceased being the subject of 
conversation, Samuel wept, and in the midst of 
his tears, sent forth a smile of joy at the thought 
of another soul having weathered the storm of 
life, and obtained firm footing on the opposite 
shore, where the heaving surges are smoothed 
down to a " sea of glass." He intimated his 
intention to preach a sermon on the occasion of 
her death, in one of the chapels ; and stated 
further, with his usual artlessness — not aware 
that the disclosure would subject him to a little 
concealed pleasantry — that he had penned his 
thoughts on the subject, placing his hand to his 
pocket, with a still farther intimation that he 
had the MS. with him. Some of the friends, 
who were less the subjects of sorrow than the 
immediate relations of the deceased, perceiving 
that he only required an invitation to bring the 
production to light, and knowing the singular 
character which his thoughts assumed in the 
dress in which they were generally arrayed, 
requested him to read what he had penned to 
the company, — hoping withal, that some gems 
might turn up that would interest the hearers. 
Samuel took hold of his pocket with one hand, 
and the MS. with the other, and drew it forth, 
a good deal sullied and cramped, as though it 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 27.7 

had been forged in the smithy, and lain in his 
pocket with other things since it had been 
written. He sprung from his chair — proceeded 
across the room — placed his glasses in order 
— turned his shoulder to the window, and the 
MS. to the light — looked and looked again — 
occasionally contracting his eyes, and adding 
to the adjustment of his spectacles. Not suc- 
ceeding to his wishes, he turned the other 
shoulder to the window — permitting as much of 
the light to fall upon the paper as possible, — 
hemming, and stammering, and shuffling — till 
at length, in a fit of impatience and disappoint- 
ment, and without being able to work his way 
through a single sentence, he threw it down 
on the table before the Rev. J. Wood, saying, 
" There, Mr. Wood, — I cannot read it — take it, 
and try what you can do with it," smacking his 
glasses into their case, like a sword into its 
scabbard, and stalking across the room again to 
his seat. When it is remarked, that this was 
too much for the gravity of Mr. Wood, the 
reader is left to conjecture the effect produced 
upon others. Yet, with all this, Samuel was 
left the subject of weeping, smiling, unsuspect- 
ing simplicity. 



278 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Takes a tour through different parts of Yorkshire — Low 
state of the work of God at Warter — Gives the preference 
to vocal music in a place of worship — Goes into the Snaith 
circuit — Goole — Meets with old friends — Is affected with 
early recollections, on visiting the scene of Martha's juvenile 
days — Prayer meetings — Returns to Yorkshire — Labours in 
the Easingwold circuit — Is again cheered with the sight of 
old associates — His increasing popularity — Meets with a 
serious accident by a fall from his horse — His conduct when 
under medical attendance — Is visited by Mr. Dawson — His 
partial restoration to health — Visits the West Riding— Pro- 
ceeds into Lancashire — Is attacked by an infidel while 
preaching out of doors at Bolton — Is summoned by letter to 
Grassington — Becomes seriously indisposed — Witnesses the 
happy death of his niece — Returns home — Declines rapidly 
in health — Attends to some funeral arrangements — His state 
of mind — His triumphant death — The general sympathy ex- 
cited on the occssion — Conclusion. 

On his return home, he continued with the 
same diligence, which had previously dis- 
tinguished his conduct, to benefit his fellow- 
creatures. The great religious institutions of 
the nineteenth century were styled by him " the 
seeds of the millennium ;" and every act of his 
own was viewed as an effort to force the shoots ; 
— a tree this, which will throw its mighty 
shadow over every nation under heaven. 

The year (1828) was begun in the spirit in 
which its predecessor had closed — a spirit 
purely devotional. Having been at home a short 
time, he again left it, and went into the Pock- 
lington circuit, tarrying a night on the road, at 
the house of his old friend, Mr. Peart. One of 
the travelling preachers being indisposed, he 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 279 

was requested to supply a few places. At 
Warter, in the neighbourhood of the Wolds, 
which was the place where he opened his com- 
mission, he found but little of that fermented 
feeling which he had seen manifested in the 
neighbourhood of York. He found preaching 
here, he remarked, " as hard work as labouring 
at the anvil." The word seemed to rebound 
upon himself, and so to " return void." u There 
was as great a difference in the climate, for re- 
ligion," continued he, between the district he 
had left, and that upon which he had entered, 
" as between summer and winter." But he 
" claimed," as he stated, his " privilege of hav- 
ing a prayer meeting after preaching," and re- 
quested those who were desirous of pardon, 
"to come up to the benkP The wife of a 
blacksmith was one who acceded to the pro- 
posal; and, having been some time under re- 
ligious awakenings, was prepared for the con- 
solations of the Spirit of God, which she ob- 
tained through the exercise of faith in Christ. 
At Pocklington, Elvington, and Sutton-upon- 
Derwent, he was exceedingly happy in his 
work. 

From, hence he proceeded to Selby, and at- 
tended the March quarterly meeting. Here 
he was hospitably entertained by Mr. B. 
Clarkson. His congregations were large, and 
the blessing of God attended his labours. He 
was especially delighted with the singing. " I 
never heard such singing before," he remarked : 
"they have no instruments — no fiddles — no 



280 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

organs. They sing with the spirit, and with 
the understanding also. I thought when I 
heard them, if our friends at Leeds would only 
use their voices to praise the Lord, it would 
not only be more pleasing to him, but they 
would be more blessed in their souls ; for sing- 
ing is worshipping God." This is the common- 
sense view of the subject ; and the last sentence 
falls with the weight of a destructive hammer 
upon every instrument of music in a place of 
Christian worship. He spoke of peace and 
prosperity in the Selby circuit, and hoped that 
the time would soon come, when, in other 
places, " party zeal would be driven to its own 
hell." 

The port of Goole, a place in the Snaith 
circuit, had, in the space of six years, increased 
in its population from two hundred to nearly 
one thousand inhabitants. A Wesleyan society 
had been established for a number of years, and 
the place in which they worshipped latterly 
was a temporary erection, raised at the expense 
of the Aire and Calder Canal Company r and in 
which a number of Sunday scholars were taught. 
The place being small and uncomfortable, the 
friends agreed to build a chapel, toward which 
Mr. Hamer, who was the first to enter his name, 
subscribed £50. On the same day,, and in the 
course of a few hours, upward of .£100 wa3 
promised. One of the Snaith friends, having 
heard of Samuel's success in different instances,, 
requested that he should be invited to aid them. 
He was accordingly written to, but the letter 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 281 

not reaching him immediately, if at all, he did 
not proceed thither till one of the circuit preach- 
ers had personally expressed to him their wish. 

He proceeded, therefore, from Selby to Snaith, 
and its adjacencies. In the earlier stage of the 
visit, April 13th, he observes, "I am now at 
Goole. I have to preach every night ; and on 
the sabbath day I shall have to preach three 
times. You see, the Lord finds me work, and, 
as I love it, I have plenty of it. He gives me 
favour in the sight of the people. The places 
for preaching are too small for them: they 
flock like doves to their windows." He was 
here visited by a female, an old acquaintance, 
who once, with her husband, walked in the 
light of God's countenance, but had also, with 
him, retraced her steps to the world. Through 
his preaching and conversation they were 
again roused from the torpor of spirit which 
had seized them ; and to render their return to 
the church of God more secure, he entered the 
name of the female into his memorandum-book, 
in order that he might be able to give the su- 
perintendent of the circuit proper directions, to 
find out such stray sheep. The woman, said 
he, "sprang from a good stock. Her grand- 
mother, Ruth Naylor, was a good mother, a 
good wife, and a good Christian. My creed is, 
that God will save to the third and fourth gen- 
eration. This has been the case in my family, 
and in many a family : yes, and he will bless 
to a thousand generations." 

While going from place to place, several 



282 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

other friendships were revived. At Swinefleet 
he entered among the friends of Mr. Knight ; 
at another place he met with a ship-captain, a 
religious character, in whose vessel he had 
preached a sermon during his last visit to Lon- 
don; and at a third place, out of the Snaith 
circuit, he had several interviews with his 
friend Mr. Thompson, of Armin. Amid many- 
pleasing remembrances, however, there was 
one connected with the early history of Martha, 
which was the occasion of much painful feel- 
ing. "Yesterday," he observes on writing 
home to her, "I preached at Garthorp, in Mars- 
land, near the place where you lived when you 
were with J. H. The house you lived in is 
now pulled down, and a new one built. The 
chapel which I preached in is built over against 
it. The congregation was large ; and I took 
tea with the blacksmith. He knew you well ; 
but he is now going off: he has been in a dy- 
ing state for the last twelve years. I assure 
you, I thought of your journey out of Lincoln- 
shire ; I could scarcely ever get you out of my 
head ; — to think of your usage with that ungod- 
ly man ! But he has gone to his reward. I 
thought of your journey, when you could not 
keep your shoes on your feet ; but the roads 
are stoned and very good now. I wish you 
were here, to see your old friends. I have 
heard you say, that the blacksmith's wife was 
very good to you, when you were ill. I saw 
the flag that parts the counties. But I will tell 
you more, if I am spared to get home." In ad- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 283 

dition to this, he had been informed of some 
misunderstanding among some of the friends at 
Micklefield, which had warped their better 
feelings toward each other. On this, he re- 
marks, " I hope you have got peace proclaimed, 
and all jarring buried. I will say the funeral 
service over it, — * Earth to earth, dust to dust, 
ashes to ashes.' The sooner it is buried the 
better. Love cannot dwell where there is pre- 
judice and party spirit. Give my love to all 
my neighbours and friends : tell them I am 
happy, and in a good state of health." 

Armin, which was one of Samuel's favourite 
places, in consequence of Mr. Thompson 
granting him perfect liberty to follow the bias 
of his own mind, often became the scene of 
strong religious excitement, and through that 
excitement, of permanent benefit to those who 
were its subjects. Separate from domestic 
worship, morning and evening, Samuel had his 
prayer meetings with the servants and neigh- 
bours. It was agreed one night, in the course 
of one of his visits, between the servants and 
himself, that they should have a prayer meeting 
early the next morning. Samuel was up, as 
usual, by four o'clock. On descending from his 
chamber to the kitchen, he found the windows 
closed, and no appearance of wakefulness 
among the inmates of the house. He returned 
to his chamber, and having prayed and sung 
alone — his morning hymn having in all proba- 
bility reached the ears of the sleepers — he was 
soon joined by the group. But as they had 



284 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

not given him the meeting at the hour and place 
appointed, he insisted on their stopping with 
him in his room. This was not very well 
relished by some of the servants, who knew 
that Mrs. C, on a visit from London, slept in 
an adjoining -chamber. But it was of no im- 
portance to Samuel, who very likely thought 
that the good lady would be as profitably en- 
gaged with them, as lying in bed, at an houi 
when the birds were beginning to wake into 
song, and heaven was alive to their melody. 
Samuel commenced the devotional exercise in 
good earnest ; they prayed — they sung — they 
met in band ; and Mrs. C. — for sleep was in 
vain where there was only a partition between 
the rooms — was compelled to keep watch with 
the party, and, to render the noise at all sup- 
portable, had to join in the devotions of the 
morning as she lay on her couch. 

The evening was generally occupied in 
the same way. On one occasion, when Mr. 
Thompson and Mr. P., one of the preachers, 
went to Howdea, to evening preaching, Samuel 
was left behind. On their return, they heard 
an unusual noise in the house ; and on opening 
the door, they found the servants and neighbours 
encircling him like a living wall of fire — every 
one breathing forth the spirit of devotion — 
Samuel's own lips touched with live coals from 
me altar — in all the glory of a revival. Mr. P. 
was for dismissing them, but Mr. Thompson, 
who knew both Samuel's weaknesses and his 
excellences, interposed his authority, and re- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 285 

quested him not to interfere, without at the same 
time appearing to give the meeting his own de- 
cided sanction. One man was so powerfully 
affected, that several persons were obliged to 
hold him ; and an old man, eighty years of age, 
was confirmed in his religious experience and 
principles, which Samuel — not having had a 
previous knowledge of him — mistook for con- 
version. The missionary meeting succeeded 
this ; and Samuel, being called upon to move or 
second a resolution, took occasion to give a de- 
tailed account of the principal circumstances of 
the meeting the night before. Having, how- 
ever, omitted the case of the old man, and be- 
ing reminded of it by Mr. Thompson, he sud- 
denly turned around upon him, and in a loud and 
sharp tone, with a good deal of fire in his eye, 
which showed that a portion of his own spirit 
was infused into it, and as though he thought 
it "well to be angry"' for the Lord, replied, 
" Heh ! and you were none so well pleased with 
it either" — exciting the smile of the auditory. 
He supported what he deemed opposition, or 
indifference, in a revival, with but an ill grace 
occasionally. Mr. P., who could not endure 
the noise in the prayer meeting, was obliged to 
take up his cross in another way. He had 
Samuel for his bed-fellow one night ; and long 
before " tired nature'' had recruited herself with 
" balmy sleep," he had to struggle between 
slumber and song, at an early hour in the morn- 
ing, till his mate, whose instrument was always 



286 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

in tune, had carolled a hymn composed of about 
ten verses, as he lay by his side. 

His eccentricities in a prayer meeting were 
not always to be endured with gravity. While 
at Mr. Bell's, of Temple Hurst, a man was 
praying very devoutly for the conversion of his 
wife. Samuel knew that there were other pre- 
requisites besides prayer ; and supposing him 
to be a little defective in some of the milder 
qualities of the mind at home, stopped him, and 
turning around, as he elevated himself, said, " Set 
a trap for her, man, and take care to bait it with 
faith and love" — settling instantly down to his 
devotions as before, adding to the person, whose 
voice had been interrupted for the moment, 
" There, you may go on again." 

Any improper feeling, as manifested on the 
platform, toward Mr. Thompson, was quickly 
swallowed up in the finer flow of divine love, 
which pervaded his whole soul, and was let out 
on the most insignificant portions of the unin- 
telligent creatures of God. Speaking to Mr. 
Thompson one day, on the subject of religious 
experience, he said, " I had a field of wheat 
once ; the crows picked it, and scarcely left a 
single grain ; I felt something rise within me, 
that said, 'I wish I had you all in a band; 9 " 
then, looking at his friend, he continued, as if 
afraid of being suspected of indulging a dispo- 
sition for cruelty, incompatible with what he 
deemed a high state of grace — " But, mind ye, 
I was not sanctified then.-' 

While in this neighbourhood, he solicited 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 287 

subscriptions for the proposed chapel at Goole 
— preached to every society in the circuit — as- 
sisted in holding four missionary meetings — 
and was frequently entertained by respectable 
families, who were not in membership with the 
Wesleyan body. The latter pressed him to 
repeat his visits. 

Samuel took a particular interest, as will have 
been perceived, in the welfare of persons of 
his own trade; and an instance of usefulness 
may here be recorded, as given by a black- 
smith in a religious assembly, when Samuel 
was remote from the sound of his voice. " I 
thank God," said he, " for what he has done for 
my soul. I lived long in open rebellion against 
him — sinning in the face of light and knowledge 
— and training up my children for the devil. 
My father, who was pious, reproved me, but I 
regarded him not. He entered my house once, 
while I was playing at cards with my children, 
and spoke to me on its impropriety. My pas- 
sion rose — I swore — took hold of him, and 
turned him to the door. Samuel Hick came 
the next day to our place to preach ; and going 
around to invite the people, he came and pressed 
me to attend. He saw I was throng ; but to 
accomplish his purpose, said, ' If you are fast, 
I will help you ;' nor would he leave me till I 
promised to attend preaching. Accordingly, I 
went ; and the Lord met me. All my sins 
were placed before me, and pressed me heavily. 
I cried aloud for mercy; Samuel came and 
prayed with me ; I prayed for myself; and it 



288 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

was not long before the Lord blessed me with 
Christian liberty. He filled me with peace and 
joy through believing, and has preserved me in 
his ways to the present time." 

He left Snaith and its neighbourhood about 
the end of April ; and after paying one of his 
" angel visits" at home, visited the York, Pock- 
lington, and Tadcaster circuits : and three of 
the places in which he was unusually favoured 
with the divine blessing were Hessay, Acomb, 
and Moormonkton, at the latter of which he 
observed, li They sang like angels." When at 
Hessay, in the month of November, having been 
from home some time, he found himself, as usual, 
nearly drained of cash by his charities, one 
of the last of which consisted in contributing 
toward the purchase of a pig for a poor woman, 
who had lost one by some accident or distem- 
per. " She was sorely distressed," said he, 
" for she had fed and brought it up, and could 
not buy another without the help of her friends. 
She was a good Christian ; and I gave her the 
most of what I had in my pocket." But his 
purse was soon replenished. His son-in-law, 
Mr. W., had occasion to be in the country ; and 
on finding that he was in the neighbourhood of 
York, sought him, and found him in conversa- 
tion with a friend in the street. Laying his 
hand on his shoulder, Samuel turned around, 
and was surprised to find the face of a relation 
peering in his own. As Mr. W. was just pass- 
ing through the city by coach to London, he 
could only propose a few brief questions, one 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 289 

of which was, " How does your pocket stand 
affected?" to which Samuel replied, " It is very 
low." Mr. W. knew the generosity of his na- 
ture ; and dipping deep into his own pocket, 
gave him a handful of silver. Samuel consi- 
dered this a providential supply, saying, " When 
I was nearly done with my money, the Lord 
sent my son to York, who gave me more. I 
want for neither meat, money, nor clothes ; and 
my peace flows like a river." At this period he 
often preached once a day in the course of the 
week, and two or three times on the sabbath. 

He had been employed in the course of this 
year, too, in soliciting subscriptions for Rider 
chapel, a village near Cawood, forming part of 
the Selby circuit. The summer, the autumn, 
and the beginning of 1829, were spent in dif- 
ferent directions ; and wherever he was follow- 
ed, the people bore a lively recollection of his 
visits. Traces of him were invariably found 
in the conversations of the friends ; his works 
and his walk left as distinct an impression upon 
the mind, as the print of the human foot to the 
eye, after a person has crossed the sand of the 
seashore. 

Samuel was in York in the latter end of 
March, 1829; and the friends in Easingwold 
wishing him to pay them a visit, a farmer and 
his good wife, both of whom had been brought 
to God some years before, through his instru- 
mentality, when residing in the York circuit, 
were deputed to give him the meeting in the 
city, and to convey him to the place. He 
19 



290 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

arrived at Easingwold on the 4th of April, and 
was entertained chiefly at the house of Mr. 
William and Miss Mary Dixon. Being well 
acquainted with Mrs. Roadhouse, he deposited 
with her two pounds, saying that he was afraid 
of losing it ; adding, with a smile, " I have 
cheated Matty out of this." Mr. R. had been 
his banker in the Snaith circuit, but having 
dealt the separate portions out to him with par- 
simony, from an impression that he gave indis- 
criminately, he thus made a change. His libe- 
rality, however, was again put under arrest ; 
and when he was prevented from giving the 
whole away, he went among the more opulent 
and begged that he might be made theij%almo- 
ner. One instance of unnecessary, though not 
inconsiderate bounty, occurred while here. He 
stepped into the house of a barber, and request- 
ed to be shaved. Inquiring of the man whether 
he had any other means of supporting his fam- 
ily, and being answered in the negative, Sam- 
uel put a shilling into his hand. This produced 
a grateful feelings and the man, in Samuel's 
estimation, was prepared for any thing that 
might follow. He talked to him on the subject 
of religion, and then proposed prayer. The 
different members of the family were speedily 
on their knees, and the worshipping group were 
open for the inspection of the next customer 
that might turn in for the same operation that 
had been performed' upon the officiating priest. 
A thousand persons might be found to part with 
their money in the same way, but a thousand 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 291 

persons of the same piety might be found, who, 
in the same place, and under the same circum- 
stances, could not have brought themselves to 
act thus, and might be justified in such conduct 
without being disposed to enter a sentence of 
condemnation against Samuel. 

Of the affection and attention of the Rev. 
Messrs. Roadhouse and Garbutt, he spoke in 
grateful terms ; and besides preaching, attended, 
in connection with them, several missionary- 
meetings. Descanting on a part of his labours, 
he remarked in his own peculiar way, " I 
preached last night (April 24th, on the other 
side of Hambleton Hills ; and the Lord, and 
Mr. Roadhouse, and me* held a missionary 
meeting ;" denoting that the Divine Being was 
as signally present in the influence of his Spirit 
on the hearts of the people — and without whose 
presence all missionary meetings are vain to 
the persons assembled — as though he had been 
rendered visible to the eye. "It is a mount- 
ainous country," continued he, " but very plea- 
sant. The people came from all quarters — 
from hill and dale : the chapel was crowded, 
and we had a good time. I never saw friends 
more kind." Here, too, as at Snaith, in the bo- 
som of the mountains, he realized the truth of 
the proverb of the wise man, " As iron sharp- 
ened iron, so a man sharpeneth the counte- 
nance of his friend." Early recollections — 
such as extended to the days of childhood — 
were revived. One person, in particular, he 
noticed ; and his joy was full, because of his 



292 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

meeting her on Christian ground. " I have 
found some of my own country friends here ; 
one of them, a woman, born at Aberford. Her 
maiden name was Barker ; she married Mr. 
Wilkinson's steward, who is now dead. Her 
eldest son and daughter have died very happy ; 
and if I live till next week, I shall have to 
preach her funeral sermon." He then spoke of 
the joy he experienced : further stating his be- 
lief that the Lord had " as surely sent" him 
" into the circuit, as he sent Jonah to preach to 
the Ninevites. He waters my soul with the 
dews of heaven." 

Hawnley was another of the places which 
Samuel visited, where he rendered himself 
amusingly popular by waiting upon the clergy- 
man of the parish, requesting him to " give 
them a speech at the missionary meeting." 
The reverend gentleman declining, Samuel 
tried him on another point. 

Samuel. " Will you please then, sir, to give us 
a pound for the missions ?" 

Clergyman. " That is too much, and I have 
no silver upon me ; but if you will give me sil- 
ver for a note, I will give you half a crown." 

Sam. " Nay, give the note, sir ; it is a noble 
cause." 

Samuel's companion, having a little more 
delicacy of feeling about him than himself, and 
perceiving that the pound was more than it was 
prudent to urge, offered, in order to relieve the 
clergyman from his importunity, to give him 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 293 

twenty shillings in silver. Samuel immediate- 
ly, in an altered tone, said, 

" Give the gentleman five shillings." 

Cler. " That will not do." 

Sam. " Ten then, sir." 

Cler. " I will give you half a crown." 

Sam. " Not less than five shillings, if you 
please, sir." 

The full change was given, and an apology 
was offered for Samuel, for whom it was fortu- 
nate an apologist was at hand. Samuel, on the 
other hand, dropped upon his knees in the room 
to improve the occasion, and prayed devoutly 
and fervently for the divine blessing upon the 
clergyman. Whether as a rebuke, by way of 
intimating that instruction was necessary, or as 
a token of respect — which at least was singular 
— the reverend gentleman sent one of his writ- 
ten sermons in the evening, accompanied with 
his regards, to Samuel's companion. 

Without placing the least dependance upon 
works, he toiled as though heaven were alone 
to be won by them. "If I had ten thousand 
bodies and souls," said he, " they should all be 
spent in the service of God." At Carlton, 
Sheriff Hutton, and several other places, the 
word of exhortation was made a blessing to the 
people. His usefulness and popularity appear- 
ed to advance with his age. Persons who had 
heard of him were prompted by curiosity to 
attend his public addresses ; and those who had 
benefited by them followed him from place to 
place : so that with the curious, the profited, 



294 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

and the stated hearers, the chapels were gene- 
rally crowded. In addition to evening preach- 
ing, travelling, and visiting the sick, he attend- 
ed three missionary meetings in one week — 
moving about in the 70th year of his age with 
the apparent vigour of youth, and with the fire 
of a new convert. At one of those meetings 
he met with the Rev. G. Marsden, from Bolton, 
who pressed him to take another journey into 
Lancashire, which he resolved to perform in 
the course of the year, should he be favoured 
with health and opportunity. He exulted, too, 
in the prospect of meeting with his friend Mr. 
Dawson, at a missionary meeting in the month 
of May. That month arrived ; but the 14th 
was a day to be remembered by Samuel and his 
friends. He was on his way from Easingwold 
to Hemsley Black Moor, to attend a missionary 
meeting. When about three miles from Hems- 
ley, his horse took fright at a chaise, upon 
which some white bags were suspended, en- 
closing some fighting cocks, wheeled around, 
and he fell off. " Though no bones," says Mr. 
Dawson, " were either broken or dislocated, yet 
the shock was felt through his whole frame. 
He nevertheless attended the meeting ; but soon 
found it necessary to leave, when he was taken 
to the house of a friend." The scene which 
followed would form a subject as suitable for 
the pencil of Wilkie as for the pen of a divine. 
Bleeding being deemed necessary, a medical 
gentleman was sent for ; but in consequence of 
absence, his place was supplied by one of his 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 295 

pupils. On his appearance, Samuel threw off 
his coat, and turned up his shirt sleeve, as if 
about to enter on the business of the smithy. 
Had the arm been composed of wood, or be- 
longed to some other person, he could not have 
manifested greater self-possession, promptitude, 
and apparent want of feeling. Stretching it 
out — his hand meanwhile grasping the handle 
of a long brush, and pointing to the vein, 
" There, my lad," said he, " strike there ;" hav- 
ing the phleme and the quadruped present in 
his mind, rather than the lancet and the human 
being. The youth, under the impression of 
fear, pricked the vein, but no blood appeared. 
" Try again," said Samuel. The experiment 
was again fruitlessly made. He instantly 
turned up the sleeve of the other arm, as if go- 
ing to another job, or as if he intended to give 
additional strength to one at which he had just 
failed, and determinately pointing to the 'spot, 
said, " Try here, lad ; strike here, and see if 
thou canst get any thing." This experiment, 
with the exception of a few drops, was as inef- 
fectual as those that preceded. The youth was 
overcome with fear, and withdrew. Fortunate- 
ly for Samuel, the surgeon himself came, about 
an hour afterward, and bled him copiously, 
after which he was placed in a bed. While 
bleeding, he said, " Glory be to God ! if I die 
I'll get the sooner to heaven." In the course 
of the same evening, while Mr. Dawson was 
preaching, the vein was opened by some acci- 
dent, when Mrs. Bentley, who was at chapel, 



296 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

and at whose house he lodged, was sent for, 
and through her kind attentions, aid was pro- 
cured, and the arm again bandaged. Samuel 
thought his work was done, and said to the 
friends around him, in a tone of holy triumph, 
" I am bown home ; — glory be to God! I am 
bown home." He expressed a wish to see Mr. 
Dawson again, who had called upon him before, 
and who no sooner closed the service in the 
evening, than he made all possible speed to his 
lodging. On entering the room, Samuel accost- 
ed him, with a full flow of spirit and of tears, 
" I am bown home, barn ! Glory be to God, I 
am very happy ! I should have bled to death, 
barn, but I happened to awaken." He next 
proceeded, " I want my will made, and you 
must make it." Mr. D., not deeming him so 
near his exit as he imagined, and adapting his 
language and imagery to Samuel's thinkings and 
knowledge of words, answered, " Well, Sammy, 
if it is to be so, you are a brown shelter;" refer- 
ring by that, as Samuel well knew, to the ripe 
fruit — brown, and ready to drop from the tree, 
and which, when taken into the hand, falls out 
of the husk. He was acquainted with Samuel's 
character, and beheld him as ripe and ready for 
a blessed immortality. " Yes," replied Samuel, 
" I am bown to glory." The will was drawn 
up according to the best directions he was able 
to give ; but as Martha was both cashier and 
accountant, he knew very little of his own af- 
fairs, and of course found it necessary after- 
ward to have it altered. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 297 

He met with his accident on the Thursday, 
and on the Saturday was so far restored as to 
be able to return to Easing wold in a gig. The 
friends at Easingwold, knowing that the begin- 
ning of the week was the period fixed for his 
return to Micklefield, proposed that he should 
preach to them on the Sunday — accompanying 
the proposal with a hope that it would not seri- 
ously injure him, while employing every argu- 
ment to accomplish their wishes, at the risk of 
his health and life.* He received the proposi- 



* This, to say the least, was inconsiderate, being only the 
day after he had been shaken a good deal by his removal from 
Hemsley ; and were it not for others than the friends at Eas- 
ingwold — to whom the following remarks are not intended 
to apply beyond the point of inconsideration just noticed — 
farther observations would have been withheld. What be- 
tween conscience on the part of the preachers, and thoughtless- 
ness on the part of the people — a willingness to expend the 
utmost of their strength in the cause of God in the one, 
and anxiety for them to be useful, founded on the value of 
immortal souls, in the other, the men very often become mar 
tyrs in the work. The people are especially culpable in 
urging a willing servant of God to work, in cases of great de 
bility; and instances have been known, when, instead of 
preventing men from running the most imminent danger of 
relapse, or something worse, those very men have been tor- 
tured in every possible way by reasons why the pulpit should 
be supplied ; — the tormentors themselves sitting like philoso- 
phers all the time, as if coolly making experiments upon hu- 
man nature, to see the utmost point to which it would go, 
then returning with the languishing sufferer, administering 
their hopes, like cordials, that — after they have wrung from 
him the last mite of physical strength, he will be no worse, 
but improved—by thus throwing the fever into his system, 
with a night's sound repose. Such conduct, if practised in 
civil life, would be viewed in no other light than as the re- 
sult of mere brutal feeling. The only difference between an 
ungodly man overworking his servants, like a set of West In- 
dian slaves, and persons who are criminal in the case in 



298 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH* 

tion with his wonted cheerfulness — preached 
on the sabbath evening — assisted in conducting 
a prayer meeting on the Monday evening — and 
proceeded to York in a gig on the Tuesday 
morning. Reduced as he was in his bodily 
strength, such was the unconquerable nature of 
the spirit he possessed, aided by the prospects 
of a better world, that he appeared more like a 
person who had just risen from slight indispo- 
sition, rather than as having walked a few paces 
back into life again from the verge of the 
grave. 

He complained of great internal pain at first ; 
and although it pleased the Lord to raise him 
again from his couch, and permit him to engage 
in his usual labour of love, he was more sus- 

hand — and to no other the subject can be applied — is, that the 
former are driven, and the latter are dogged to it, through in- 
discreet zeal — incorrect notions of duty — sympathy for the 
multitude, with a kind of caljous feeling toward the indivi- 
dual. Persons should be exceedingly careful not even to lay 
temptations in the way of zealous, but afflicted men, to take 
too early the exercise of the pulpit. A man of God has that 
within him which will not allow him to remain inactive 
longer than it is necessary. In such cases, the people should 
stand between the couch and the pulpit, and employ the check 
rather than the incentive. It is a hard case, when a man is 
under the necessity of killing himself to prove that he is 
poorly : and the worst is, that there is neither any conscience 
made of the matter, on the part of these overworkers, nor any 
tribunal at which to try them for their conduct. They go 
free, though the man of God may lose his life. He is afraid 
of their uncandid reflections, if he do not work ; though with- 
out reasonable and serious reflection themselves ; and to 
crown the whole, as it is done under the guise, so it is laid to 
the charge, of Christianity. A man may, perchance, survive 
it ; but no thanks to the task-masters for the pain imparted, 
any more than for the life next to miraculously preserved. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 299 

ceptible of cold, while his friends perceived an 
evident decay both of memory and of corporeal 
strength. 

Having preached in his own neighbourhood a 
short time, he left home for Lancashire in the 
early part of July. His route appears to have 
been the following. He remained two days at 
Swillington Bridge, in consequence of the rain, 
and spoke of the kindness of Mr. Gilgras. 
From thence he proceeded to Wakefield, where 
he preached, and at which place he had often 
experienced the kindness of S. Stocks, Esq., 
and other friends. Barnsley was his next place, 
prior to reaching which, he spent two days with 
Mr. Myers, who quaintly told him he was not 
to think of " making a road over his house." 
When he arrived at Barnsley, the friends pre- 
vailed upon him to remain until their missionary 
meeting. While in that neighbourhood, he 
preached at Burton and Cudworth. This was 
no new ground of labour to him ; and at the 
latter place, particularly, he was rendered ex- 
tremely serviceable to Mr. G., who afterward 
became a useful local preacher, but was in a 
state of mind verging toward despair, when 
met by Samuel. They slept in the same room, 
and every groan fetched up from the soul of the 
one was the signal for prayer to the other ; nor 
was it an ejaculation with Samuel, uttered in a 
state of repose upon the pillow, which cost him 
nothing; for he rose again and again, and 
wrestled with God, like Jacob, both in the dark 
and at daybreak. He gave himself no rest, 



300 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

till rest was found by him who sought it. He 
had here an excellent coadjutor in the general 
work, in William Smith — a man of a very dif- 
ferently constructed mind, but in no respect his 
inferior for simplicity, zeal, and disinterested- 
ness. 

He remained some time also at the house of 
John Thorneley, Esq., Dodworth Green, near 
Barnsley, and was the minister of mercy to a 
number of poor families in the village of Dod- 
worth. Here, as in other places, in seasons of 
distress, his funds, though often replenished by 
Mr. T. and others, were as often drained of the 
last mite. Cases of distress multiplying upon 
him, as is usual with those who take the trouble 
to seek after them, and having received supplies 
from his own friends, he inquired, as he had 
done at Burnley on a former occasion, whether 
there were not some opulent characters in the 
neighbourhood, who might be willing to contri- 
bute of their abundance toward the relief of the 
poor. He was told of one gentleman, by his 
friend, William Rhodes, but received only such 
hopes of success as unbelief could afford. 
Faith, in Samuel, could perceive no obstacles ; 
he proceeded, therefore, to Mr. C.'s residence, 
and found him ; and knowing less of circumlo- 
cution than the legal gentleman himself, enter- 
ed directly upon the case. Mr. C, either to 
get rid of him, or being touched in a way which 
was as rare to himself as it was astonishing to 
others, took from his pocket a handful of silver, 
and gave it — feeling like a person, on Samuel's 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 301 

departure, who, in an unguarded moment, had 
suffered himself to be imposed upon, and won- 
dering at his folly for having been so far over- 
seen on the occasion. But the truth is, there 
was so much of God, of justice, of humanity, 
and of mercy, in all Samuel's applications, that 
they carried with them the authority of a com- 
mand, and became unaccountably irresistible 
to the persons to whom they were made. 

While he was at Dodworth Green, his re- 
spected friend, Edward Brooke, Esq., of Hoy- 
land Swaine, sent his servant and gig for him. 
On seeing the conveyance, the tear started into 
his eye, and turning to Mrs. Thorneley,* he 
falteringly observed, "He will kill' me." The 
zeal of Mr. B. was too much for Samuel's 
years ; and such an expression, from such a 
man — one who counted not his life dear to him 
in the cause of God — must have been wrung 
from him in the agonizing reflection of past suf- 
fering. Of this, however, Mr. B. was not 
aware ; and with his wonted kindness furnished 
him with a new suit of clothes. After labour- 
ing here a few weeks, he proceeded to Bolton, 
where he was on the 1 0th of August ; and had 



* This excellent lady, who knew how to estimate Sam- 
uel's piety and labours, has since been called to her eternal 
reward. The writer does not proceed beyond his personal 
knowledge when he states, that Mrs. T. was modest — retired 
— intelligent — liberal to the poor — hospitable, without parade 
— a perfect model of domestic order and happiness, without 
bustle — a-great sufferer, but with the invincible patience and 
fortitude of a martyr — crowning the whole with the most 
exalted Christian spirit and demeanour. 



302 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

it not been for this Lancashire tour, he would 
have proceeded into Derbyshire, for which Mr. 
Thorrjeley had made every preparation, in order 
that he might be rendered beneficial to the men 
employed in working his coal mines. 

Not content with preaching in the chapels, 
he took his stand in the streets, and proclaimed 
the Saviour of sinners to the multitude. Tay- 
lor and Carlile had just been there, and had 
engaged the attention of a few of " the baser 
sort," who had become venders of their blas- 
phemy. One of these attacked Samuel while 
he was addressing the people in the street ; and 
Samuel, possessing greater confidence in the 
truth of God than ability to defend it, impru- 
dently committed himself, by telling the man, 
that if he would suffer him to proceed without 
interruption to the close of the service, he 
would go into any private house with him, or 
with any number of the same persuasion, if 
there were a hundred of them, and he would 
take them one by one and conquer them. But 
the man was desirous of public conquest ; and 
in the lowest slang of the two infidel missiona- 
ries, so famous for stooping and raking up from 
the very depths of the common sewers of infi- 
delity all the filth of which a depraved heart is 
capable of conceiving, told Samuel that the 
Saviour he preached was a thief — that he could 
prove from the Bible itself he stole an ass from 
one person, and corn out of the field of an- 
other. Samuel immediately rebutted the charge, 
by insisting, that, as the Creator of all things, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 303 

the earth, the corn, and the cattle upon a thou- 
sand hills, were his ; that he only laid claim to 
his own property. This was as good a reply 
as the low, ignorant attack merited. The man 
was prevented from making farther disturbance, 
and Samuel was dissuaded from giving him the 
meeting. It was a heavy affliction, however, to 
his mind. He returned repeatedly to the sub- 
ject, and felt all his sensibilities in operation 
for the honour of his Saviour. " I have heard 
of my dear Lord," said he to some of the 
friends, in his conversation afterward, "being 
called a wine-bibber, a gluttonous man, and a 
fiiend to publicans and sinners ; but I never 
heard him called a thief and a robber before, 
though crucified between two." Then he would 
sob and weep over the charge, as though he 
wished to sympathize with his Divine Master, 
while lying, as he supposed, under this odium.* 

* Messrs. Taylor and Carlile were itinerating the kingdom 
at this time, and in the true spirit of infidel philanthropy, 
after having charged the ministers of Christianity with mak- 
ing a gain of godliness, issued their tickets and their circu- 
lars to try what they themselves could accumulate in the way 
of business. The originals, which are in the writer's pos- 
session, are curiosities. The ticket specifies, that, "The 
Rev. Robert Taylor, B. A., will deliver an Oration this 
evening, July 6th, at half past seven, at the Manor Court 
Room, Brown-st., Manchester. Admission to the Boxes, 3s. 
— to the Area of the Room, 2s." So much for the modest 
market-price of infidel commodities to moneyed characters : 
and as there were no free seats, their system of benevolence 
does not, of course, reach the case of the poor. If Chris 
tian ministers were to admit their auditors into their places 
of public instruction at 2s. and 3s. per head, some of them 
would make an excellent concern of their "orations." 

Prior to the tickets being offered for sale, the different 



304 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

While at Bolton, he received a letter from 
Grassington, near Skipton, stating that a niece 
of his was very ill — not likely to recover — and 
wished to see him. He no sooner was inform- 

ministers of religion were furnished with the circular refer- 
red to, of which the following is a copy : — 

"The Rev. Robert Taylor, A. B., of Carey-street, Lin- 
coln's Inn, and Mr. Richard Carlile, of Fleet-street, London, 

present their compliments, as infidel missionaries, to , 

and most respectfully and earnestly invite discussion on the 
merits of the Christian religion, which they argumentatively 
challenge, in confidence of their competency to prove that 
such a person as Jesus Christ, alleged to have been of Naz- 
areth, never existed ; and that the Christian religion had no 
such origin as has been pretended ; neither is it in any way 
beneficial to mankind : but that it is nothing more than an 
emanation from the ancient pagan religion. The researches 
of the Rev. Robert Taylor on this subject are imbodied in 
his newly published work, ' The Diegesis,' in which may be 
found the routine of their argument. They also impugn the 
honesty of a continued preaching, while discussion is chal- 
lenged on the whole merits of the Christian religion." 

It is difficult to command sufficient muscle for gravity, in 
the perusal of such a document. 

First: Robert Taylor comes forward as the avowed ene- 
my of Christianity ; and yet, without even a vestige of that 
Christianity, continues to cling with the tenacity of life to 
its honours, by still retaining the title of Reverend, which is 
one of the distinguishing honours of its ministers, and 
which he himself would never have thought of assuming, 
had it not been for his original connection with the church 
that conferred it, as is evident from its being withheld from 
his compeer, Richard Carlile, who is honoured with the less 
dignified title of Master ; — thus contemning that by which 
he is still anxious to be exalted ; — furnishing another exem- 
plification of the fable of the proud jackdaw, which, not be- 
ing satisfied with the plumage with which nature had favour- 
ed it, decorated itself with a few peacock's feathers ; — slip- 
ping off with a pair of stilts — as confident of his own little- 
ness, and mounting them on every convenient occasion. 

Secondly: His title of A. B., still connected with his once 
Christian profession, is one to which no one will dispute his 
right — showing his progress in learning — having reached the 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 305 

ed of this, than he took the coach for Skipton. 
The day was exceedingly wet ; and he being 
on the outside, his clothes were drenched with 
rain. He arrived a few days before his niece 

first two letters of the English alphabet ; — halting without 
being able to arrive at D. This may be deemed sheer pueril- 
ity. It is ; nor is any thing else intended : but then the wri- 
ter is led to it from a perusal of the "circular," which 
speaks of the astonishing " researches" of the Reverend gen- 
tleman. And to what do they amount? To the amazing 
vastness of — nothing. For, 

Thirdly : He undertakes " to prove" and that too " argu- 
mentatively" that " such a person as Jesus Christ never ex- 
isted ;" — that is, in plain language, to proves negative. This 
is beating the air with a vengeance ; and to say the least, he 
will certainly have something to do, in prosecuting the task 
of proving NOTHING. 

To take the gentleman, however, on his own ground of 
nothingness, we ask — and ask seriously— if Christianity has 
not been " any way beneficial to mankind," in what solitary 
instance has infidelity been of service to the human species? 
Robert Taylor may be told of one " way"— and one will be as 
good as a thousand for the writer's purpose — in which Chris- 
tianity, in its effects upon the human heart, has benefited 
man by man ; and in that " way" infidelity has something not 
only to do, but to learn; — it is in the way of mercy. This 
is one grand objection which every feeling heart must have 
to infidelity — not in its professions, for in these it is opulent, 
but in its cold • blooded realities. As infidel missionaries can 
prove negatives, they cannot with any grace object to their 
assertion : and there is one thing which may be averred — that 
infidelity never gave birth to a single benevolent institution since 
God made the world, or man fell from his steadfastness. No : 
they are Christians alone who plume the wings of genuine 
charity. Among infidels, with all their boasted benevo- 
lence, the sacred form of charity appears sickly and inactive 
— the pulse at her heart beats languidly — no expression 
flashes from her eye — and her pale lip attests that no seraph 
has ever touched it with a live coal from off the altar. 
When, in pursuance of Mr. Rose's Bill, authentic informa- 
tion was for the first time in any country laid before the pub- 
lic, of the number of paupers, and of the amount of the 
poor rates, it appeared that upward of 700,000 persons were 
20 



306 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

died, but received his own death-stroke by the 
journey ; for he caught cold, which settled upon 
his lungs, and from which he never fully reco- 
vered. In a letter t.o his partner, dated Sep- 
tember 10th, he remarked, "I have been very 
ill since I came here. I was taken with a stop- 
page in my breathing about midnight. If I had 
not got bled, I believe I should not have been 
writing to you just now ; but as soon as the 
doctor bled me, I found instant relief. I was 
very happy, and found that God was the God 
of my salvation." In speaking of his niece, 

enrolled in Benefit Societies. The advantage of even these 
societies might be fairly inferred from their antiquity. They 
are known to have existed in some of the ancient Greek re- 
publics ; traces of them are found among our Anglo-Saxon 
ancestors ; and what is still more remarkable, institutions 
have been discovered of a similar purport in some of the 
South Sea Islands, among a people still barbarous enough to 
delight in devouring the flesh of their enemies. But are 
these institutions shoots from the stock of infidelity ? Or it 
they were, do they deserve the epithet benevolent at 
tached to them ? By no means; for no one receives help 
from these but the person, who, by his subscriptions, first 
helps them. It has been, therefore, and may still be affirmed 
— That Christianity alone is a system of humanity, 
which leads to acts of kindness and benevolence. This is one 
" way" in which it has been useful to the indigent part of 
mankind ; and in this " way" infidelity has been worse than 
a blank in God's creation. 

N. B. It would seem that Messrs. Taylor and Carlile had 
set too high a value on the article of infidelity at first, and 
like other wares, there has been a great reduction in the 
price. The latter gentleman was lecturing in Manchester, 
in the autumn of 1833, when the prices of admission stood 
at sixpence and threepence, the highest sum being paid for a 
seat near the person of the lecturer. This is a sad reduction 
in the space of about two years ; and augurs fair not only 
for free, but vacant seats, if not the necessity of having to 
hire persons to hear them. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 307 

he said, " We are waiting for a convoy of an- 
gels, and are expecting them every day, to car- 
ry her soul to the regions of eternal glory, 
where there is day without night, pleasure 
without pain, and where eternity shall seem as 
a day. She has obtained a title and a prepara- 
tion for her heavenly inheritance. She has oil 
in her vessel, and has on the wedding garment. 
The Lord has taken a vast deal of pains with 
her, but he has proved the conqueror. She can 
give up all ; and when this is the case, we re- 
ceive all. It takes a great deal of grace to say, 
* Thy will be done.' My son-in-law, Wrath all, 
wishes me to stop with her till she finishes her 
course. Mr. Knight's family being ill, he is 
obliged to return to London." 

It was during one of his Lancashire journeys 
that he was on the outside of one of the stage 
coaches, as on the occasion of his going to 
Grassington, in one of the heaviest falls of rain 
to which he had ever been exposed : " And ah, 
barn" said he to a friend, as though a Lanca- 
shire shower had something peculiar in it — 
" ah, barn, when it rains there, it does rain ! 
the hills look white with it, as it dashes down 
the sides." His heart, as on other occasions, 
was in the right place. A young woman sat 
next him, who was much annoyed, being but 
ill prepared to resist the downward force of the 
torrent. He looked at her ; and while pitying 
her, he felt happy in his soul, audibly blessing 
the Lord for all his mercies. Whenever his 
female companion complained, he as quickly 



308 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 






hitched in a pious sentiment, exclaiming on one 
occasion, " Bless the Lord ! it is not a shower 
of fire and brimstone from heaven." This sen- 
tence took effect ; it was like a nail fastened in 
a sure place ; she became thoughtful : and he 
had the happiness to learn, that, in consequence 
of his behaviour and conversation, she became 
a steady convert to Christianity. 

He preached twice during the sabbath, while 
here, at Grassington and Hebden. Having 
written to his daughter Ann in London, and 
home to Martha, but receiving no answer, he 
was rather anxious. " Whether," said he to 
the latter, a you do not think it worth your while 
to write, or whether you are too busy, I cannot 
tell : but I am sure, if I had sent word that you 
had a legacy of a hundred pounds left you, I 
should have had a few lines before now, to 
know where and when you were to receive it." 
Yet he strove to excuse her because of the 
harvest. "Many a time," continued he, "I 
have set my face over the brown mountains 
toward Micklefield. I have seen you in mind 
in the harvest field, cutting down the corn. If 
I had wings like a dove I would fly to you, and 
look at you. We have had a great deal of rain 
here, almost every day, except last week. 
When I saw the clouds burst against the mount- 
ains, I thought it would stop the rain from 
reaching you. If you have had as much rain 
as us, you have had a very wet harvest. But 
I hope you have got the most of it in, and are 
shouting ' Harvest home.' " 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 309 

Samuel soon added, " Ten minutes past five 
our niece departed this life. She died in the 
Lord : and blessed are the dead that die in the 
Lord. May you and I be found ready when 
the message comes !" Mr. W., who appears to 
have remained at Grassington till the solemn 
event took place— having been more sudden 
than expected — observed in the same letter, 
" Father will be at home, if all is well, about 
Monday." 

On his return home, " he was only able," 
says Mr. Dawson, " to preach a few times, and 
attend two missionary meetings, one at East 
Keswick, in the Tadcaster, and another at 
Garforth, in the Leeds East circuit. He now 
began to sink fast, though not confined to bed 
till a short time before he died." About a 
month before he quitted this transitory state, he 
said to his friends, " I am going home ;" and 
then informed them of some arrangements he 
had made for the improvement of his death. 
In these he had only the good of his fellow- 
creatures in view ; and through the whole of 
them the same distinctiveness of character, 
the same simplicity, the same benevolence, the 
same peculiarities which marked his previous 
life, were conspicuous, — some of them, to those 
who knew him not, bearing the stamp of osten- 
tation, yet perfectly remote from it, — an in-' 
creasingly sweet, meek, hallowed feeling per- 
vaded every word, look, and act, alike ex- 
pressive of the mellowing influences of the 
Holy Ghost upon his soul, thus checking the 



310 THE \ILLA.GE BLACKSMITH. 

lighter feelings of the visitant, who might be 
tempted to obtrude — the visitant himself feel- 
ing that the being before whom he stood had 
the consecrating hand of God upon him — that 
death was hovering over the ground which sup- 
ported him — and that through that same Being 
he was brought to the immediate confines of 
an eternal world, ready to open and receive him 
in any moment of time. 

With the exception of a desire to have his 
will altered, he appeared to have no other wish 
of importance to gratify; and even in this he 
was preserved in " perfect peace." Mr. Dawson 
visited him on the Wednesday before his death, 
and attended to some of his last requests rela- 
tive to his will, and other affairs. Martha oc- 
cupied her accustomed chair, when he entered 
the house, fast approaching to her 80th year, 
with her glasses on, and a voice less feminine 
than that of most of the softer sex. She re- 
ceived him as the friend of her husband, who 
was in an upper chamber ; and although he was 
so ill the night before that it was uncertain 
whether he would see the returning day, he no 
sooner heard the voice of Mr. D., than his spirit 
revived within him, like that of old Jacob ; and 
gathering up his feet, he in effect said, " I will 
go and see him before I die." He was quickly 
on the ground floor, and took his chair in the 
corner by the side of Martha. He told Mr. D. 
that he wished to have his will altered. This 
was soon done, as his effects were not large, 
owing to his charities, his gifts to his children, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 31 1 

and the property of which he had been de- 
prived. He further observed, that he wished 
to be buried at Aberford— that his friend Simp- 
son was to bake a sack of meal into bread — 
and that two cheeses were to be purchased. 
Mr. D., who was scarcely prepared for the re- 
ception of the last two items, wished to know 
the reason of such preparation, when Samuel 
replied, " There will be a thousand people at 
my funeral. As soon as I am gone, you must 
advertise it in the Leeds papers, and my friends 
will all come." Mr. D. very properly but 
affectionately remonstrated with him, suggest- 
ing to him the probable cost, the propriety of 
persons not specially invited providing for them- 
selves, and the serious effect it would have upon 
the little he had to leave. "That's might" 
responded Martha, who heard what was said; 
" persuade him off it." Samuel, who still re- 
tained his ancient spirit, exclaimed, with the 
tear starting in his eye, " Expense, barn ! I 
never was a miser while I lived, and I should 
not like to die one." Being again pressed to 
dismiss the subject from his mind, he said, 
" When the" multitudes came to our Lord, he 
could not think of them fainting by the way." 
He reminded Mr. Dawson of the text (Isaiah 
xlviii, 18) which he had previously told him to 
select, from which to improve the occasion of 
his death. On Mr. D. leaving the house, 
Martha, being too infirm to accompany him, sent 
her voice across the room, and said, in allusion 
to the funeral sermon, just as he stood in the 






312 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

doorway, "See that de'nt set him te heigh." 
This was in true character. She knew Mr. 
D.'s high opinion of Samuel; and although she 
dearly loved her husband, yet her stern sense 
of justice, and her jealousy for the honour of 
God, led her to give what she deemed a timely 
caution. On a friend visiting him, and em- 
ploying in prayer the common expression, 
"Make his bed in affliction;" — "Yes," re- 
sponded Samuel, with promptitude and energy, 
" and shah it weel, Lord !" 

His thoughts were now solely directed to 
his " departure," and he gave directions to one 
of the persons that attended him to take the 
dimensions of a closet on the ground floor, in 
order to ascertain whether it was sufficiently 
large to admit the full length of his body 
after his decease. This being done, he said, 
" As soon as I die, you must take the body down 
and lay it out ; for you will not be able to get the 
coffin either down stairs, or out at the window.' 

Two young men, members of the Pontefract 
Wesleyan society, watched with him during 
the last night of his life ; and from one of these 
— Mr. James Foster — some interesting particu- 
lars have been communicated. " While I was 
in London," said he to them, " Dr. C. encouraged 
me to preach full sanctification, and I will do 
so. It shall be done : faith laughs at impossi- 
bilities, and cries — It shall be done. Sing, joys, 
sing." In compliance with this request, they 
sung the well known doxology, composed by 
Bishop Kenn, 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 313 

" Praise God from whom all blessings flow ;" 

a hymn which will never cease to be heard in 
heaven by warbling millions of redeemed in- 
telligences from earth — its strains no sooner 
dropping by one individual, or one part of the 
militant church, than resumed by another — the 
continuous song flowing on, till the last saint of 
God shall wing his way from time to eternity. 
On one of the young men asking him whether 
he had any wish to be restored so far as to be 
able to preach again, he replied, "No;" then 
added, " If it would glorify God, and do good to 
souls, I should be willing." 

In the course of the night, he repeatedly ex- 
claimed, " Glory, glory, glory !" then in an 
ecstasy broke out—" I shall see him for myself, 
and not for another. The Lord has wrought a 
miracle for me. He can — 1 know he can — I 
cannot dispute it. Christ in me the hope of 
glory. I am like the miser ; the more I have, 
the more I want." His ear, like his heart, 
seemed only tuned for heavenly sounds. " Sing 
the hymn," said he, 

"Who are these array'd in white, 
Brighter than the noon-day sun, 
Foremost of the sons of light ; 
Nearest the eternal throne ?" 

during the whole of which, he continued to 
wave his hand in triumph. Then again, with 
untiring perseverance in the exercise of praise, 

" My Jesus to know, and feel his blood flow, 
'Tis life everlasting, 'tis heaven below." 



314 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

The hymn being finished, he said, " Blessed 
Jesus! this cheers my spirits." It was said 
to him, " You will soon be among the dead, 
Samuel." " No doubt about that," he replied ; 
"but I am ready to be offered up — glory be to 
the Lamb ! Some of the friends in London told 
me, that I did not know how to pray ; but I know 
better than that — glory — glory — glory! Mercy 
of mercies ! Lord, save me !" He was again 
asked, " What must we say to your friends, 
who inquire after you ?" " Tell them, joy, that 
I have all packed up — that I am still in the old 
ship, with my anchor cast within the veil — and 
that my sails are up, filled with a heavenly 
breeze. In a short time, I shall be launched 
into the heavenly ocean." A mariner, and even 
some landsmen, might be able to discover a 
confusion of metaphor here ; but the Chris- 
tian can look through all this, and can per- 
ceive a soul in readiness for a state of endless 
felicity. 

A heavenly smile played upon his counten- 
ance, and the joy he experienced gave a viva- 
city to his eye which scarcely comported with 
the general debility of his system. Prayer 
occupied some of the short intervals between 
hymns ; and such was the influence of God 
upon every exercise, that it seemed as though 
other tones were heard than those from mortal 
lips, and the room itself was " the gate of 
heaven." One of the persons who attended 
him observed, " I have spent whole nights in 
reading and prayer: but the night spent by 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 315 

the bedside of Samuel Hick exceeded them 
all." 

In the afternoon of the day on which he 
died, some of his friends came from Sherburn 
to see him. Unable audibly to pray with them 
himself, he requested them to pray, and with 
great feebleness gave out the first verse of one 
of his favourite hymns, 

" I'll praise my Maker while I've breath ; 
And when my voice is lost in death, 
Praise shall employ my nobler powers." 

To a neighbour, he observed, with unusual 
solemnity, " I have as much religion as will 
take me to heaven ;" then pausing a few seconds ; 
"but 1 have none for Matty;" adding, with 
another pause, " and none for the children." 
This is the key which unlocks the secret of 
his real feelings, and shows that there was no 
thought of funeral parade in what he had pre- 
viously observed — nothing beyond a wish that 
his remains might admonish the living on the 
subject of mortality. He found that he had 
nothing of which to boast — no more religion 
than was barely necessary — and wished to im- 
press upon those around the importance of 
personal piety. Some of his last words were, 
i( Peace, joy, and love." As evening drew on, 
his speech began to falter ; yet every sentence 
uttered by those around appeared to be under- 
stood ; and when that hymn was sung, 

" Ye virgin souls, arise," &c, 



316 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

he entered into the spirit of it ; especially when 
the friends came to, 

" The everlasting doors 

Shall soon the saints receive, 
Above yon angel-powers 

In glorious joy to live ; 
Far from a world of grief and sin, 
With God eternally shut in ; — " 

at the enunciation of the first line of which 
verse he lifted his dying hand, and waved it 
around till it fell by his side ; still feebly raising 
and turning around his forefinger, as the arm 
was stretched on the bed, betokening his triumph 
over the " last enemy,' 5 and showing to those 
who were with him that he was — to use lan- 
guage previously employed by him — going 
" full sail toward the harbour," and had an en- 
trance ministered to him " abundantly into the 
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ." Just at the moment that the vital 
spark, which had been some time twinkling in 
its socket, was emitting its last ray, he opened 
his eyes, and feebly articulated, " I am going ; 
get the sheets ready," and died. This was 
about eleven o'clock, on Monday night, Novem- 
ber 9th, 1829, in the 71st year of his age.* 

On the day of interment, which was the suc- 
ceeding sabbath, such was the sympathy ex- 
cited in the neighbourhood, that the people for 

* The age here specified is that which was on the breast- 
plate of the coffin. His brother, it may be proper to notice, is 
of opinion that he was two years older than there stated. 
The writer, not having had an opportunity to consult the 
register, is unable to decide between the dates. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 317 

some miles around, uninvited, attended the 
funeral. " Some hundreds," says Mr. Dawson, 
" went to Micklefield, which is about two miles 
from Aberford. The funeral procession swelled 
as it proceeded ; and when all met at iYberford, 
it was computed, on a moderate calculation, that 
not less than a thousand persons were as- 
sembled together." This rendered Samuel's 
" thousand" almost prophetic, and in the dark 
ages would have won for him the character of 
a seer. Without any pretension to such gifts, 
the fact itself of such an extraordinary con- 
course of people, in a comparatively thinly po- 
pulated district, affords an eminent instance of 
public opinion in favour of integrity, usefulness, 
and unassuming worth. Mr. D. adds, " Had 
not the day been rather wet, and the roads 
very dirty in consequence of it, it is probable 
many more would have been there. The church 
was crowded, and scores could not obtain ad- 
mission. The worthy vicar would not permit 
his curate to read the service, but went through 
it himself, as a mark of the respect he bore to 
the deceased, and was much pleased with the 
excellence of the singing. It was truly affecting 
to see the crowd press to the grave, to take their 
last look of the coffin that enclosed his mortal 
remains. They gazed awhile ; — they turned 
aside, and wept, exclaiming, ' If ever there was 
a good man, Sammy Hick was one.'" Mr. D. 
might have added, that the infirm and aged, 
who were unable to follow the corpse, appeared 
in the doorstead of their houses, wiping away 



318 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

the tears as the procession passed ; and that, 
pleased as the clergyman was with the singing, 
the tear was seen glistening in his eye in the 
course of the service. 

His death was improved the sabbath follow- 
ing, by Mr. Dawson, who took the text, which, 
as noticed, Samuel had selected. The chapel 
was incapable of containing one half of the 
people that assembled ; and though there had 
been a considerable fall of snow in the course 
of the forenoon, the preacher and congregation 
were under the necessity of worshipping in the 
open air. Such was the anxious solicitude of 
the people to pay respect to his memory, that 
no less than nine additional funeral sermons 
were preached, in different parts of the Tad- 
caster circuit, besides others in those of Selby 
and Pontefract ; and some of the simple-hearted 
were heard to say, " I love heaven the better, 
because of Sammy Hick being there." 

CONCLUSION OF THE MEMOIR. 

1. In Samuel Hick we are presented with 
an additional exemplification of the numerous 
facts which go to support an argument pursued 
in a small, but interesting tract, entitled, a Great 
Effects from little Causes." It is there 
shown, that every man, woman and child can 
do something— can do much; that we cannot 
stir, without touching some string that will 
vibrate after our heads are laid in the dust; 
that one word of pious counsel, uttered in the 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 319 

hearing of a child, may produce an effect upon 
children's children whose influence may be 
felt on the other side of the globe, and may 
extend to eternity ; and that it is not improbable 
that eternity will disclose to us, how the as- 
tonishing events of this age sprung at first from 
the closet of some obscure saint, like Simeon 
and Hannah of old, " praying to God alway, 
and waiting for the consolation of Israel." 
What has resulted from the labours of Samuel 
Hick, emphatically one of " the weak things of 
the world," is beyond the power of any one, 
except an Infinite Intelligence, to calculate. 
He set many a human being in motion for 
heaven, and accelerated the march of others. 

2. The admirable economy of Methodism is 
unfolded, in accommodating itself to the bestow- 
ments of God to his creatures, whether he con- 
fers upon the individual the lesser or the more 
exalted intellectual endowments — and the de- 
signs of that God in holding every talent in 
requisition for the general good of mankind. 
No disparagement is intended to other Christian 
communities, by stating that the Established 
Church, the Calvinists, the^ Baptists, the So- 
ciety of Friends, could not, 'agreeably to their 
economy, have found employment for such a 
man as was Samuel Hick. They would have 
been at a loss to know what to do with him ; 
and would have been ashamed of him as a 
preacher, however they might have borne with 
him as a Christian. But Methodism, while she 
lays her hand upon the pounds, has never dis- 



320 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

dained to stoop to the pence ; and it is in the 
pence — the pence, in more senses than the me- 
taphorical one intended — that she finds her 
strength. " Gather up the fragments that re- 
main, that nothing be lost," will apply in a 
thousand cases besides the one which called 
forth the remark from the Son of God. 

POSTSCRIPT. 

In the month of January, 1832, just as some 
of the last sheets of the third edition of the 
memoir of her departed husband were passing 
through the press, Martha was summoned into 
the presence of her Lord. With all the pru- 
dence and care which characterized her pro- 
ceedings, a proper occasion, as will have been 
perceived, was all that was necessary to draw 
out the truly noble and independent spirit 
which she possessed, and of the credit of which 
she had been deprived from the heedless 
exuberance of her husband's givings. The 
profits of the first edition of this volume were 
sacredly set apart for her benefit ; and when 
Mr. Dawson presented her with the first-fruits, 
he was accosted by her with — " I cannot think / 

of taking any thing, till I know that Mr. 

shall suffer no loss by it ;" and it was not till 
she was satisfied on this point, that she could 
be induced to accept the offering. Her faculties 
were greatly impaired before she died ; but 
she left the world, if not with Samuel's triumph, 
in Christian peace. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 321 



NOTE.* 

The order of God, and the confusion of man, 
viewed in connection with religious assemblies. 

On the visit of the apostles to Ephesus, 
" the whole city was filled with confusion. 
Some therefore cried one thing, and some 
another : for the assembly was confused ; and 
the more part knew not wherefore they were 
come together."f Similar effects have followed 
in every age, and in almost every city, town, 
and village, since that period, on any extraor- 
dinary work of God, in the awakening and 
conversion of sinners. The stillness and 
serenity of the midnight hour seemed to en- 
wrap the slumbering citizens, till Paul, u finding 
certain disciples" who had only been baptized 
"unto John's baptism," and who, like many 
moderns, whatever they may have " heard? 
have not known " whether there be any Holy 
Ghost," " laid his hands upon them," and 
preached in their hearing the faith of Christ.J 
No sooner could it be affirmed, that u the Holy 
Ghost came on them" — that " they spake with 
tongues and prophesied" — and that Paul u went 
into the synagogue, and spake boldly — disputing 
and persuading the things concerning the king- 
dom of God" — than tt divers were hardened, and 

* See page 163. f Acts xix, 29, 32. t Acts xix, 2, 6 
21 



322 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

believed not, but spake evil of that way before the 
multitude."* Among the worst of these were 
" certain of the vagabond Jews," whose repre- 
sentatives in the present day are to be found 
in the lower ranks of society, among the vicious 
and uninstructed.f When the Lord, however, 
began to make bare his arm in judgment as 
well as in mercy, " fear fell on them all, and 
the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.":): 
But among those who were alarmed, there were 
only a certain number that " believed" — u con- 
fessed" — " showed their deeds" — and " burned" 
their " books," by which they had " used curious 
arts."§ Uj5 to this period, the opposition was 
a good deal confined to the vulgar, as Chris- 
tianity laid the axe to the root of their vices. 
But when " mightily grew the word of God and 
prevailed," affecting the established religion of 
the place, to which the secular interests of many 
of the worshippers were linked, it was then 
that the higher orders of society considered 
themselves justified in supporting the virulence 
of persecution. " Demetrius, a silversmith," 
who " made silver shrines for Diana" — a busi- 
ness that " brought no , small gain unto the 
craftsmen," led the way. Noble and ignoble 
being now engaged — the one in support of their 
vices, and the other of their gains, " the whole 
city was filled with confusion." It is a re- 
markable fact, however, that the confusion be- 
longed not to the disciples and brethren, but to 

* Acts xix, 6, 9. f Ver. 13. t Ver. 16, 17. $ Ver. 18, Ik 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 323 

the mob ; — to the latter also was the conflict of 
opinion to be charged, some crying " one thing, 
and some another ;" — and that to them, finally, 
was the most profound ignorance to be attributed, 
since " the more part knew not wherefore they 
were come together."* 

" Noisy meetings," so called, in modern 
times, are religious assemblies which have 
been generally distinguished for sudden awaken- 
ings and conversions. Some writers of respect- 
ability, under an impression possibly that such 
meetings are discreditable to Christianity, have 
laboured to remove the noise — as an effect, by 
referring the cause, sudden conversion, to apos- 
tolic times, and by representing such change as 
the result of miracle, in order to confine it to 
the first age of the Christian Church ; arguing 
from the cessation of the one, the absurdity of 
the other. Among those who are desirous of 
referring every thing " quick and powerful" to 
primitive days. Dr. Mant takes a distinguished 
stand. His language is, " Where the conver- 
sion was sudden or instantaneous, it was the 
consequence of miraculous evidence to the truth. 
When the preaching of Peter on the day of 
pentecost added to the church three thousand 
souls, they were men who had been amazed 
and confounded by the effusion of the Holy 
Ghost, and the supernatural gift of tongues." 
Had the learned prelate paid proper attention 
to the subject, he would not have selected this 
portion of Scripture history for the establish- 

* Acts xix, 29, 32. 



324 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

ment of his non-experience theory ; for it ap- 
pears, 

1. That the apostles and brethren, who were 
all members of the Christian Church, about one 
hundred and twenty in number, were assembled 
in an upper room in Jerusalem.* 

2. That the apostles and disciples were the 
only persons that saw the cloven tongues of fire 
— were filled with the Holy Ghost — and spake 
in different languages.! 

3. That on a report of this being "noised 
abroad, the multitude came together."! These, 
it ought to be observed, had neither seen any 
thing that had occurred, nor even then received 
the Holy Ghost.§ Having only heard of the 
descent of the Spirit, their evidence of course — 
allowing a trifle for lapse of time — was similar 
to what is furnished to every man in the pre- 
sent day-, who is confirmed in the truth by a 
perusal of the fact in the sacred pages. 

4. That when they heard the apostles speak 
in different tongues, they, in common with all 
who read the account with seriousness and 
attention, " were amazed and marvelled"^ 

5. That instead of being equally convinced, 
much more converted, they were all " in doubt ;" 
and some not only hung in a state of suspense, 
but " others mocking, said, These men are full 
of new wine."TT In this state, amazed, marvel' 
ling, doubting, and mocking, each part sustained 
by different persons probably, as in a drama, 

* Acts i, 12, 15. f Acts ii, 1,4. t Ver. 5, 6. 

$ Ver. 38. || Ver. 7, 12. 1f Ver. 12, 13. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 325 

the miracle left them; unconvinced and uncon- 
verted. To attempt, therefore, to get rid of 
modern instantaneous conversions, by attribut- 
ing those in the apostolic age to miracle, not 
only evinces a defect in Biblical knowledge, a 
disposition to confine the Spirit's influence to 
peculiar modes and seasons, but an awful in- 
capacity — -from a want of experience — to treat 
on a subject so immediately connected with 
personal salvation and the sacred office. 

Turning from the miracle and its effects of 
amazement, §c, we find Peter publicly address- 
ing the " multitude" convened on the occasion.* 
The general topics on which he enlarged were 
the predictions of the Old Testament in re- 
ference to the Messiah — the signs of his com- 
ing — the blessings of his kingdom — his cha- 
racter — his miracles — his crucifixion — -his re- 
surrection — his ascension — and the gift of the 
Holy Ghost. f What, then, are the facts of 
the case ? They are these — and the appeal is 
made to the sacred records : — 

1. That the probability is in favour of Peter 
having addressed the multitude in his own 
tongue, the language spoken by the Jews at 
the time ; thus, he accosted them, " Ye men of 
Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem," in- 
cluding both natives and strangers, to whom by 
their residence the language was familiar.J In 
his more private conversations, and in his ad- 
dresses to select parties, belonging to different 

* Acts ii, 14. f Ver. 14-36. , % Ver- 14. 



326 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

nations, he, together with his brethren, em- 
ployed their own separate tongues.* 

2. That it was through the preaching of 
Christ crucified, and not through the miracu- 
lous gift of tongues, that the multitudes were 
awakened : hence it is affirmed, " Now, when 
they heard these things" — heard that God had 
made that same Jesus, whom they had crucified, 
both Lord and Christ, "they were pricked in 
their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the 
rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what 
shall we do ?"t 

3. That it was not till after the delivery of 
the general discourse, that signs of genuine con- 
version succeeded — Peter being obliged to urge 
the subject home to the bosoms of his auditors, 
with " Repent, and be baptized, every one of 
you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re- 
mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of 
the Holy Ghost f\ the whole, up to this mo- 
ment, being deemed impenitent, unbaptized, 
unpardoned, and without the saving influence 
of the Spirit of God. It was only subsequent 
to this period that the inspired penman could 
observe, " Then they that gladly received his 
word were baptized ; and that same day there 
were added unto them about three thousand 
souls."§ 

From the whole of this statement, it is evi- 
dent, that it was not the medium — not the 
tongue — not any number of tongues — not even 
the miracle imparting the gift of those tongues, 
* Ver. 8-11. t- Ver. 36, 37. % Acts ii, 38. $ Ver. 41. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 327 

that produced the change, but the subject matter 
of the Christian ministry : the one — viz., the 
gift of tongues, as well it might, filled the mind 
with amazement ; the other — the words of God, 
effected the conversion of the heart ; and it is 
still that " word" accompanied by the energy 
of the Holy Ghost, which the Divine Being 
has employed down to the present time, as the 
grand and leading instrument in the conversion 
of sinners. If, agreeably to the original com- 
mission, the gospel was to be preached to every 
creature, and throughout every era of time ; — 
if the same end was to be accomplished by it, 
which could only follow by the same accom- 
panying influence; it is rational to suppose, 
since the same necessity exists, that it will 
prove as much " the power of God to salvation" 
in the present, and in Great Britain, as in the 
first century at Jerusalem. With the same 
instrument, operating on similar subjects, we 
are not only authorized to expect the same 
grand internal change, but also minor, external, 
and often incidental effects, to exhibit themselves. 
By paying a little attention to the subject, 
the difference between an ancient and a modern 
revival will be found not so great — and therefore 
not so alarming— as some persons are led to 
imagine. The following are a few of the points 
of agreement : — 

AN ANCIENT REVIVAL A MODERN REVIVAL 

IN JERUSALEM. AMONG THE WESLEYANS. 

1. Prior to the religious 1. The preaching of the 
commotion in the holy city, gospel invariably precedes a 



328 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



" the word," as has already- 
been observed, was preached 
by the apostles, Acts ii, 14. 
2. The people were 
"pricked in their heart," 
verse 37. 



3. There was a great in- 
quiry among the persons se- 
riously affected; anxiously 
asking, " Men and brethren, 
what shall we do!" Acts 
ii, 37. 

4. The serious inquirers 
" continued in prayers," 
verse 42. 



5. To prayer, they added 
the "breaking of bread," 
Acts ii, 42, 46. 



revival of the work of God 
among the Methodists. 

2. Conviction of the ag- 
gravating nature of moral 
evil is experienced, and a 
desire, according to rule, to 
flee from the wrath to come, 
is expected in all who unite 
themselves to the society. 

3. Inquirers, denominat- 
ed sincere seekers of salva- ■ 
tion, multiply on those occa- 
sions ; their earnestness and 
language varying, according 
to the degree of feeling ex- 
cited. 

4. Though grayer meet- 
ings are regularly establish- 
ed throughout the connec- 
tion, they are much more 
numerous under a quicken- 
ing influence of the Spirit 
of God than at other times. 
Then, more than at other 
seasons, they pray " with- 
out ceasing ;" so much so, 
indeed, as frequently to an- 
noy their prayerless neigh- 
bours. 

5. As no mention is made 
of wine in this case, and the 
private members were en- 
gaged in " breaking bread 
from house to house," it is 
warrantable to conclude, 
that an allusion is made to 
the Ayanai, lovefeasts, to 
which young converts are 
extremely partial, and which 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



329 



6. They gladly " receiv- 
ed" the " word" preached, 
verse 41. 



7. A love to the sanctua- 
ry of the Most High follow- 
ed ; for they continued " dai- 
ly with one accord in the 
temple," Acts ii, 46. 



8. The religion of the 
temple entered their dwell- 
ings, in attestation of which, 
" they ate their meat with 
gladness and singleness of 

heart" "praising God," 

Acts ii, 46, 47. 



9. " They continued stead- 
fastly in the apostles' doc- 
trine and fellowship," verse 
42. 



10. The most expansive 
benevolence was manifested, 



constitute a part of thepnz- 
dential means of grace among 
the Wesleyans. 

6. Ministers are looked 
upon as angels of God — 
and their message is the joy 
of the soul ; and the man 
who is most useful in a re 
vival is most beloved. 

7. Places of worship are 
crowded — old chapels are 
enlarged — and new ones are 
built. The language of the 
people is, " How amiable 
are thy tabernacles, O Lord 
of hosts !" In a moment's 
absence, they are ready to 
exclaim, " My soul longeth, 
yea, even fainteth, for the 
courts of the Lord." 

8. At tables, where " grace 
before meat" was never 
heard, and in houses where 
a family altar was never 
erected, the voice of prayer 
is poured forth, and the 
voice of praise makes melo- 
dy to " them that are with- 
out." 

9. Uniting themselves in 
church fellowship to the 
body, the young converts 
conduct themselves agreea- 
bly to the gospel, and to the 
rules and regulations im- 
posed upon them by a con- 
ference of Christian minis- 
ters. 

10. There is, perhaps, not 
a Christian community in 



330 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

as a fruit of the Christianity the world which supports a 
possessed : they " sold their more extensive system of 
possessions and goods" — charity than the Wesleyans. 
"parted them to all v as eve- Such are their givings, that 
ry man had need" — broke they have been advanced as 
"bread from house to house" an objection against the 
— " and had all things com- preachers, as though they 
mon," Acts ii, 44, 45, 46. were too liberally supported ; 
and these have increased 
and decreased with the spi- 
ritual life of the body. 

In what, then, consists the principal differ- 
ence 1 In Jerusalem, the converts " had favour 
with all the people ;" in modern times, an ob- 
jection is taken against revivals, because of the 
occasional noise, which forms an accompani- 
ment. 

There are persons that merit an apologist, 
and may be excused for the part they take in 
attempting to quell an apparent tumult, when 
persons professing unusual sanctity, and who 
have been disciplined in the midst of such as- 
semblies, have taken offence at them. They 
have sometimes raised as great a clamour for 
order, as the clamour has actually amounted to 
which they have attempted to silence. Order, 
decorum, confusion, &c, very often mean 
just as much as we are disposed to make of 
them. Imagine a magnificent edifice, in the 
course of erection, rivalling, in its splendour, the 
noble minster at York. Persons totally unac- 
quainted with the plans and designs of the 
architect, on seeing a hundred men employed in 
different places, crossing and recrossing each 
other's path, hewing wood, drawing water, mix- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 331 

ing, chiseling, hammering, moulding, with a 
hundred other et ceteras, would be ready to label 
the whole as one immense mass of confusion. 
But the architect himself, confident in the har- 
monious movement of his own plans, and who 
can connect the whole from beginning to end, 
sees that every man is in his proper place, and 
that the building is regularly rising — proceeding 
with order — going on toward completion. This, 
though not a perfect, is a sufficient illustration 
of a prayer meeting. A hundred persons 
are associated together, with a hundred wants, 
in a hundred different states, with a hundred 
objects in view, and with as many different 
modes of accomplishing their purposes. Here 
is one dumb, and as a beast before his Maker, 
capable only of expressing himself by a sigh. 
A second, more deeply wrought upon, gives 
utterance to his sorrow by a heavy sob. A 
third breaks silence with a groan. A fourth, 
drinking still deeper of the wormwood and gall, 
actually roars out for the disquietude of his 
soul. A fifth is wrestling with God in mighty 
prayer for the blessing of pardon, while a dozen 
more penitents are smiting on their breasts, and 
each responds to the prayer publicly offered, 
" God be merciful to me a sinner" — a score of 
voices lifted up at the same time, and striking 
in, like the people of old, with a hearty " Amen? 
Two or three persons, in the midst of this, 
having obtained peace with God, being very dif- 
ferently affected, are ready to commence a song 
of praise, and nothing but the word " Glory" 



332 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

dwells upon their lips. Though the prayer 
publicly presented to God is one, yet the states 
of the people differ. It cannot perhaps reach 
every case, because every case is not known to 
the person who is the mouth of the audience ; 
and persons will be affected in proportion as it 
reaches themselves — thus passing from one to 
another : and till every case Is reached, agony 
itself will compel the penitent to throw in his 
sententious and ejaculatory interruptions, in 
order to hasten the blessing. If the people 
were in one state, had all arrived at the same 
stage of religious knowledge, had the same 
strength of intellect, and the same views, they 
might then be brought to keep tolerable time 
with each other, like a number of clocks or 
watches. Until this is the case, the character 
of a meeting, composed of persons taking the 
kingdom of heaven by holy violence, will vary: 
and to a person entering into a place at the 
period just described, the whole might appear a 
scene of confusion, and he might, by way of 
hushing it into stillness, bawl out more lustily 
than any of them for order and for a constable. 
But such a person should recollect, that man's 
confusion is very often God's order. The Di- 
vine Being, who sees not as man — man, who is 
unable to look beyond the veil of humanity — 
beholds the same Spirit at work, though va- 
rious in his operations — the same grand work 
going on, though in different persons — the work 
of prayer, praise, conviction, repentance, pardon, 
holiness, love, joy, peace, all proceeding in regu- 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 333 

lar order, not confusedly mixed up in one human 
soul at the same moment of time, but distinct, in 
different persons. A few varied gestures or 
movements to the eye of the beholder, or a few 
jarring sounds to the ear of the hearer, may cow- 
found the individual himself who thus looks 
and listens, but cannot change the distinct cha- 
racter of the work. A thousand congregations 
met at the same moment, under the immediate 
eye of God, engaged in prayer and praise, though 
in different places, are not more distinct, or less 
to be charged with disorder, than the separate 
characters in a prayer meeting, each of whom 
has his distinct work of grace upon his heart, 
and his distinct sentiments, " uttered or unex- 
pressed," on his tongue. There is nothing 
irrational in different men in different states be- 
ing differently affected, and manifesting those 
internal effects by external signs. Confusion in 
the mass to man is order to God in the indi- 
vidual. They have only to be separated to ap- 
pear so to their fellows. A partition of burned 
clay, three inches thick, will settle the differ- 
ence even with man, between confusion and 
order ; on each side of a half dozen of which 
partitions separate groups may be differently 
engaged, one in sighing, another in groaning, a 
third in singing, a fourth in murmuring accents, 
like the noise of many waters, following the 
minister in the Litany, or in any part of the 
Church service. Let men only be saved sys- 
tematically, with the charm of brick and mortar 
between them, and the work at once becomes 



334 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

genuine ! But the moment the groaners blend 
with the sighersj the work loses its character, 
as though the ear of the Saviour could not dis- 
tinguish sounds, the eye of the Saviour could 
not discover the shades of difference in the 
work, or the different workings of the heart! 
A worthy gentleman who wished to systema- 
tize matters, and have every thing done de- 
cently antl in order, feelfng, as a member of the 
establishment, for the honour of religion, dis- 
covered his concern for, and insight into, divine 
things, in rather a singular manner. There 
was a revival of religion among the Wesleyans 
in Manchester, in the summer of 1816, and the 
grand place of resort for the devout was Old- 
ham-street chapel. As there was an occa- 
sional mingling of voices in the chapel, and 
these had risen so high as to bring the assem- 
blies under the imputation of " noisy meetings," 
the gentleman referred to, knowing that Dr. 
Law, then bishop of Chester, was about to 
visit Manchester, took the alarm, and went to 
an influential member of society, to see whether 
the work, or in other words, the meetings, 
could not be suspended awhile, till the digni- 
tary had left the town, that the credit of the 
town might not be injured in his estimation. 
The manufacture of the town will at once ac- 
count for the gentleman's notions ; going on the 
supposition that the work of *God might be 
managed like the machinery in a cotton mill, 
put in motion when we please — worked slow 
or fast — or laid to rest between meals ! The 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 335 

work might be suspended here, if it could be 
effected hereafter ; but this can only be shown 
on popish principles, and on the principles of 
the bishop himself, who hesitated not to pray 
for one of the royal family after her demise, 
and which prayer is yet in print, in the funeral 
sermon delivered on the occasion. Certainly, 
groans in the living are as justifiable as prayers 
for the dead, and earnestness in religion as 
praiseworthy as indifference. 



336 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



THE SUBSTANCE OF AN ADDRESS. 



"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every 
thing give thanks : for this is the will of God in Christ 
Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise 
not prophesyings. Prove all things : hold fast that which is 
good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very 
God of peace sanctify you wholly : and I pray God your 
whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless 
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," I Thess. v, 
16-23. 

I have to tell you, that you have only an 
old blacksmith in the pulpit to-night, and that 
you may look for very plain truths. When I 
first began to preach, I was sadly afraid lest I 
should not be able to recollect my text, for I 
could neither read nor write. But now, blessed 
be the Lord, I can do both. The Lord is a 
wonderful teacher ; and when he undertakes 
any work, he can soon make a job of it. I 
cannot preach a learned sermon; but I can 
give you the word of God just as I have it 
before me. 

" Rejoice evermore." The text says, " ever- 
more." What ! rejoice in tribulation, in famine 
and nakedness — when there is no money in the 
pocket, and no meat in the cupboard? was 
there ever a man, think you, that could do so ? 
O yes, my friends, I can find you a man that 
did. What says Habakkuk ? " Although the fig 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 337 

tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the 
vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the 
fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut 
off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in 
the stalls : yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will 
joy in the God of my salvation." Do you think 
I cannot find you another in the word of God ? 
O yes, I can. What says Job, after all his 
losses and sufferings ? " Naked came I out of 
my mothers womb, and naked shall I return 
thither : the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
away :" and what then ? Why, " Blessed be the 
name of the Lord!" Who would have expected 
this ? Not the infidel, I am sure. He would 
rather have thought that Job ought to have 
said, " And cursed be the name of the Lord !" 
And do you think, friends, that we are going 
to be beat by these Old Testament saints — 
those that lived in the dark ages? No, no. 
St. Paul speaks about being " joyful in tribula- 
tion." In the text, he says, " Rejoice evermore :" 
— " and again I say, Rejoice" You may do as 
you like, friends; but for my part, I am de- 
termined to enjoy my privilege — to "rejoice 
evermore," as here commanded. 

" Pray without ceasing." That is, live in 
the spirit of prayer ; and pray with your voice 
as often as you have opportunity. You may 
pray when you are at your work, as. well as 
when you are upon your knees. Many a time 
have I prayed while shoeing a horse ; and I 
know that God has both heard and answered 
me. Were it not for this inward prayer, how 
22 



338 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

could we "pray without ceasing ?" St. Paul 
did not mean, that we were to leave our busi- 
ness, or our families, and be always upon our 
knees. No, no. I have my business to mind, 
and my family to provide for : and, glory be to 
God ! while we " provide things honest in the 
sight of all men" we may " work out" our " salva- 
tion" by praying secretly to him. But this is 
not all. We should have set times for prayer, 
both public and private; we should pray with 
our families, and also in the house of God. It 
would be a sad thing, if, in the day of judgment, 
any of our children were to rise up and say, 
" I never heard my parents pray ; I may have 
heard them curse and swear, and tell lies, but 
not pray." Other children may say, " We 
have heard our parents pray — for they said the 
Lord's prayer ; the very first word of which 
was a lie in their mouths. They knew that 
God was not their ' Father ;' they neither loved 
nor served him, but were of their father the devil" 
O, my friends, this outside, this formal religion 
will not do ; we must get it into our hearts. 
Then our prayers will be acceptable to God, 
and useful to ourselves. 

"In every thing give thanks." What! 
for a bad debt, or a broken leg 1 for parish pay ? 
for a dinner of herbs 1 for a thatched cottage ? 
Ay, praise God for all things. He knows what 
is best for us. We have more than we de- 
serve ; and we should neither take a bite of 
bread, nor a drink of water, without giving 
thanks for them. If we were more thankful 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 339 

for our mercies, God would give us more : but 
we are by nature so very ungrateful — either mur- 
muring against providence, or expecting so 
much more than common food and raiment, that 
we need a positive command before we will 
give thanks for what God gives to us out of his 
free bounty. You must give thanks, then; 
"for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus con- 
cerning you" Now, the will of God should 
be the law to man; and you hear that it " is 
the will of God in Christ Jesus" that Chris- 
tian men should " rejoice evermore, pray with- 
out ceasing, and in every thing give thanks." 
Another part of the text is, 

" Quench not the Spirit." You that have 
the Spirit of God, see that you do not quench 
it. Grace is a very tender plant, and may easily 
be destroyed. You need not go to bed drunk 
to quench the Spirit. It may be quenched by 
neglecting prayer, by giving your minds to 
foolish and trifling objects, by attending to 
earthly things, by refusing to do good, by not 
praying with your families. The master with 
whom I was an apprentice never used family 
prayer : I have often thought of it since : and it 
was no wonder that we grew up so very wicked. 
When I got converted, it was as natural for me 
to pray with my family as it was to live. I 
should be like a fish out of water without prayer. 
But we may also grieve or quench the Spirit, by 
refusing to do our duty, and by speaking rashly 
with our mouths. I remember quenching the 
Spirit of God in this way once. A man came 



340 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

into my shop, and asked me to do a job for him. 
Being afraid he would never pay, I felt vexed 
that he should ask me, and hastily told him 
that I would not do it. But I soon felt that I 
had done wrong, and would have given almost 
any thing to have had my words back again. 
Besides, I thought the refusal might lose the 
man a half day's work. But I was off my 
guard ; the devil gained his point ; and pride 
hindered me from confessing my sin. Well, 
what was to be done ? Satan had 'gotten me 
down ; but I was not to lie there, and give all 
up. No. I said to my wife, "I have lost my 
evidence of the favour of God; I will go to Mr. 
Bramwell — he is a man of prayer, and will help 
me to obtain it again." He did so, and I found 
it — glory be to God ! 

" Despise not prophesyings." Do not 
turn your backs upon the word of God ; for 
"faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
ivord of God?'' I told you that you have only 
an old blacksmith for your preacher. But you 
must not think, that, because of that, you have 
no need to repent and turn to God. What I 
say is true ; and if I speak according to the will 
of God, you have as much right to attend to 
what I say, as though the greatest preacher in 
the world were in the pulpit. You may not 
think me a very wise preacher, but I am a very 
safe one for you ; for if I preach at all, it must 
be the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know nothing 
else ; and if I were to lose my religion, I should 
not offer to preach another sermon. But I 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 341 

must get on, or I shall preach too long — and 
long sermons do no good. In the first age of 
Christianity, some were for Paul, some for 
Apollos, and some for Cephas. Some said one 
thing, and some said another: but we are to 
" try the spirits whether they are of God" And 
St. Paul says, 

" Prove all things." Do not be content 
with any religion that comes to hand, but ex- 
amine it, and see if it be right according to 
Scripture. Some folk boast about not changing 
their religion, and that — however they may 
live — reckon they will not have to seek their 
religion at last. Alas, for them ! They are 
called Christians on no better ground than 
Turks are called Mohammedans — merely be- 
cause their fathers and their grandfathers were 
called so. When I first became religious, I 
thought I would join the best people and be 
right, if possible. I knew what the Church 
was ; so that I did not need to try it. I went 
to a Catholic chapel, as the Catholics say they 
are the oldest Christians in the world, and make 
great pretensions to be the true Church. But I 
did not understand their Latin prayers and 
monkish ceremonies, and found I could get no 
good to my soul there. I then went to a Quaker 
meeting ; but there was never a word spoken ; 
and I wanted to know how I might love and 
serve God. After that, I went to the Baptists, 
and the Calvinists ; but the Methodists suited 
me best. Still I am not slavishly bound to any 
party ; and if I could find a gainer, a better, or 



342 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

a cheaper way of getting to heaven, I would 
willingly go that way. " Hold fast that which 
is goody Having found religion, don't be so 
ready to part with it. Hold it fast. The world, 
the flesh, and the devil, will strive to get it from 
you ; but be determined sooner to part with your 
life than make shipwreck of faith and a good 
conscience. 

" Abstain from all appearance of evil." 
This is a capital direction. How many people 
get wrong through self-conceit and proud con- 
fidence ! " O," say they, " .there is no harm in 
such a thing, and such a thing ; it is not clearly 
forbidden in Scripture." They are not sure 
whether it is right or wrong ; so they will even 
make the venture, although the Scripture says, 
" He that doubteth is damned" — that is, ■ con- 
demned in his conscience. If there be an 
" appearance of evil" do not venture. When I 
go anywhere on business, I always strive to 
get out of the way of wicked men. I am like a 
fish out of water here again : I cannot live out 
of my element ; I am always afraid of being 
corrupted by them. " Can a man take fire into 
his bosom, and his clothes not be burned V Now, 
I am coming to the very best part of the sub- 
ject: I am sure I can say something about 
sanctification, for I love it best. 

" And the very God of peace sanctify 
you wholly throughout spirit, soul, and 
body." It seems to me that man is made up 
of three parts-— a spirit, which is immortal — a 
soul, which he has as an animal — and a body 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 343 

which is the dwelling-place of the soul and 
spirit. The body will soon die ; and of each it 
may soon be said, " Earth to earth, ashes to 
ashes, dust to dust." But when that part of 
us which is taken from the earth shall join 
again its "kindred dust," it will then have 
passed into another state, and will either be 
" numbered with the blest," or " with the 
damned cast out." Should it have been made 
holy during the time it was united to the body, 
it will go to a place of happiness. If unsancti- 
rled, it will be driven to a place of misery. Some 
men have thought that the terms "spirit and 
soul" in the text, refer to the powers and dis- 
positions of the mind ; but whichever way it is, 
and whether you divide man into three parts, 
or thirty parts, St. Paul means to include them 
all in this entire sanctification. We are first 
to be sanctified, and then to be "preserved 
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ" The justification of a sinner is a great 
work, which none but God can perform ; but to 
sanctify that sinner wholly is almost more than 
the mind can understand. There are many 
who stagger at the doctrine of entire sanctifica- 
tion, and cannot think that it refers to any state 
of grace upon earth. But St. Paul prays that 
the Thessalonians may be thus sanctified, and 
often speaks of it in his other epistles. He 
declares that " this is the will of God, even your 
sanctification." I had doubts about this doctrine 
once ; but I was convinced of the truth of it 
one day, while going through a wood. I saw 



344 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

two trees which had been felled. One of them 
had been cut away to make a ship, or a coffin, 
or something else : but the stump was left in 
the ground, and young trees were again grow- 
ing out of the old one. Ah, thought I, this is 
like a man who is justified. The stump of his 
evil nature remains, and fresh evils spring up 
and trouble him. Well, sirs, I came to the 
other tree. It was laid upon the ground, but 
the roots were stubbed up, so that it could not 
grow again. I said to myself, This tree is like 
a man in a sanctified state ; the strings are cut 
that tied him to the world ; and the earth is no 
longer about his roots ; " the world is crucified" 
to him, and he " unto the world." I got a fair 
view of the doctrine of sanctification that day ; 
and it was the Lord himself that made use of 
these two trees to teach me what I desired to 
know. I sometimes compare religion to the 
best coin of the realm. First, there is repent- 
ance : this may be compared to a seven -shilling 
piece ; though there is but little of it, still it is 
good. Then comes pardon : this is like half a 
guinea. Next comes sanctification : this is like 
a guinea. Now, who would be content with 
seven shillings, or even with half a guinea, 
when he might just as well have a whole guinea^ 
by applying for it ? 

What a blessed world this will be, when the 
Christian Church zealously contends for the 
doctrine of Christian holiness ! ■ Nearly the 
whole of our natural disorders are owing to our 
sins. If people were more religious, there 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 345 

would not be so much need of doctors; and 
when the millennium comes, they may get a 
fresh trade ; for as there will then be no more 
sin in the world, so there will be no more pain 
or sickness. This . state of holiness is not 
without its trials. As you got into it by faith, 
you may get out of it by unbelief. You must 
not think that the battle is ended, or the work 
is done, when you have stepped into this liberty 
of the gospel. No : you are to be 

" Preserved blameless." When perse- 
cution or tribulation arises, whether from the 
devil or man, do not part with your sanctification. 
It will abide a storm. Do not slip into a state 
which is more dangerous, though not so much 
exposed; and if you should lose your hold, 
strive to get it again. It sometimes happens, 
in a great battle, that a particular house or barn 
is taken and retaken many times in a day. I 
have lost this sanctification at different times, 
but I always got it again. I have suffered a 
good deal for sanctification. The devil once 
got hold of me thus : — A cunning man came 
into my shop one day, and asked me what good 
I got by going to love-feasts, and other meetings, 
and whether it was not possible to live to God 
without so much trouble, and so much praying ? 
What he said set me a reasoning. I thought I 
could, and began to try ; but I soon lost my 
evidence of sanctification, and as soon felt my 
loss. I was like old Pilgrim, who had lost his 
roll, and went back to find it- 
There are people who believe that sin will 



346 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

never be destroyed, but by death ; and thus they 
make death a mightier conqueror than Jesus 
Christ. The founders of our Church had other 
views, for they taught us to pray, that the 
" thoughts of our hearts may be cleansed by 
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit." If the 
thoughts are cleansed, we are sure that the 
words will be holy and the life good ; for it is 
out of the heart, as the fountain, that all evils 
flow. The language is nothing but the bell, 
and the hands the index, to show what is within. 
If there was no clock-work in the inside, we 
should never know the hour of the day. The 
promise of the Saviour is, that the gospel shall 
be preached as a witness among all nations, 
and that then the end shall come. The end of 
what? — the end of the world? No, no; the 
wickedness of the wicked shall come to an end, 
and the earth shall be filled with the glory of 
God. This doctrine I will preach to the end 
of my life. If the king were to make a de- 
cree, that if any man dared to preach the doc- 
trine of sanctiflcation he should have his head 
cut off, I would willingly go and lay my head 
upon the block, and would shout with my last 
breath, "May the very God of peace sanctify 
you wholly throughout body, and soul, and spirit, 
and preserve you blameless unto the coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ" O, friends, get this 
sanctiflcation of the heart — pray to God for it 
earnestly — believe that it is your , privilege to 
enjoy it — and claim the blessing by faith in 
Jesus Christ. 



THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 347 

The papists talk of a purgatory after death ; 
but I have been in one in this life ; — 

" 'Tis worse than death my God to love, 
And not my God alone." 

I never mean to be in this purgatory again. 
While I live in the enjoyment of this religion, I 
will invite others to partake of it. Yes, I will 
preach this sanctification 

1 While I've breath, 



And when my voice is lost in death, 
Praise shall employ my nobler powers." 

Sin has led many a man to destruction, but I 
never heard that holiness ever injured any one. 
I had a man that lived with me ; he was a very 
good workman, but determined to live in sin. 
He would never come in to family prayer, and 
it grieved me sadly that any man should live 
in my house who was such an enemy to godli- 
ness. He was such a spendthrift, and repro- 
bate, that he had hardly any clothes to his back, 
and was always in debt at the alehouses and 
shoemaker's. Well, I thought, " This must 
come to an end ;" and I determined to part with 
him. While reasoning one day upon it, I 
thought again, "How many years has God 
had patience with thee, Sammy 1 Why, five 
and twenty years !" Then, I said to myself, 
" I must have a bit more patience with this poor 
fellow, and try some other means to bring about 
his conversion." Well, sirs, I set a trap for 
him, and baited it with faith and prayer. I 
got him persuaded to go to a lovefeast. The 



348 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

people wondered to see him there. He went 
out of curiosity, to hear what the friends had to 
say, and, it may be, to make sport of them. 
But God found him out, and brought him into 
great distress of soul. This ended in his con- 
version. God made a bran new man of him ; 
and he now finds that godliness has the pro- 
mise of this life. He looks a hundred pound 
better than he did. He soon began to pay off 
his old debts, and now lives without making 
fresh ones. Did sin ever do a man any good like 
this 1 No. It promises much, but it never per- 
forms what it promises. The truth is, it has 
nothing to give ; for " the wages of sin is death." 
Every sinner will shrink from the payment of 
those wages which he has earned by a life 
of sin. 

It is religion that makes good husbands, 
good wives, good children, good masters, and 
good servants. It is the best thing a man can 
have in this world, and it is what will fit him 
for heaven. May God save you ! I hope I 
shall meet you all in heaven. I feel such love 
to you that I could take you all in my arms, 
and carry you into Abraham's bosom. O, that 
every person in this congregation may turn 
from his evil ways, and become a new crea- 
ture ! May " the very God of peace sanctify you 
wholly, and preserve you blameless in body, 
soul, and spirit !" Amen ! 



CONTENTS 

TO 

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 



CHAPTER I. 

His birth — Parentage — Hears John Nelson — Disturbance 
during street-preaching — Is bound an apprentice to a black- 
smith — His conduct — Attends a lovefeast — Becomes the sub- 
ject of divine impressions — Hears Thomas Peace — Visits 
York — Scenes. of riot — Hears Richard Burdsall — His con- 
duct toward a persecuting clergyman — His heart increasing- 
ly softened — Conviction — Mr. Wesley — The good effects of 
that venerable man's ministry, . . . Page 13 

CHAPTER II. 

He leaves his master before the expiration of his appren- 
ticeship — Is providentially directed to a suitable situation, 
and commences business for himself— His marriage — His 
benevolence — Death of his wife's mother — Is alarmed by a 
dream — Obtains mercy — Suddenness of his conversion — Its 
fruits — His zeal — Answer to prayer, and effects of his ex- 
postulation with a landlady — Summary of the evidence of 
his conversion, 31 

CHAPTER III. 

He seeks church fellowship — Advises with a pious cler- 
gyman, with whom he meets in band — Unites himself, on the 
clergyman's leaving the neighbourhood, to the Wesleyan 
Methodists — The kind of preaching under which he profited 
— Society at Sturton Grange — A revival of religion — Two 
colliers rendered extensively useful — A solitary barn the 
resort of the devout — Samuel's distress on account of in- 
dwelling sin, and his deliverance from it — Singular occur- 
rence — Deep distress compatible with a state of justifica- 
tion, 49 

CHAPTER IV. 

Samuel's public character — His call to speak in public — 
A dream — Reproves a clergyman — Assists in prayer meet- 



350 CONTENTS VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

ings — Visits Howden and other places — A remarkable out- 
pouring of the Spirit of God — His power in prayer — Labours 
to be useful — Suits his language and thoughts to the employ- 
ment of persons addressed — A general plan laid down for the 
spread of religion in the villages of Garforth, Barwick, &c. 
— Samuel received as a regular local preacher — His person 
— Intellect — Influence — Peculiarities — Tenderness — Lan- 
guage — Style of preaching — An apology for his minis- 
try, Page 65 

CHAPTER V. 

His diligence — The light in which he beheld mankind — 
The substance of a conversation held with Earl Mexborough 
— Samuel's circumscribed knowledge in natural history — His 
views of the Bible — Proofs in favour of the doctrine of fu- 
ture rewards and punishments — His visit to the seat of Earl 
Mexborough — A point of conscience — A painting — Fidelity 
in reproving sin, at the hazard of being injured in his trade 
— The millennium dexterously hitched in, as a check to 
pleasure-takers — Three hunting ecclesiastics rendered the 
subject of merriment among the titled laity — Ministerial 
fruit a proof of the pow r er of truth, not of a call to preach it 
— Duty on saddled horses viewed as a hardship — Samuel's 
more extended labours — Privations — Persecutions — A poor 
widow — A conquest over bigotry at Ledsham, . . 93 

CHAPTER VI. 

His qualifications for soliciting pecuniary aid — An unsuc- 
cessful application to a clergyman — Relieves his circuit from 
a debt of seventy pounds— His anxiety to obtain a chapel at 
Aberford — A miser, and his manner of addressing him — A 
chapel erected — Contests with different avaricious characters 
— A visit to Rochdale — Administers seasonable relief to a 
preacher's family — His Scriptural views of charity — Supplies 
a poor family with coals — Regales part of a company of 
soldiers on a forced march — An amusing domestic scene — 
Visitation of the sick — Gives up the use of tobacco from 
principle — His indisposition, and inattention to the advice 
of his medical attendant — The good effects of his state of 
mind upon others — Raises a subscription for a poor man — 
Relieves a poor female — His love to the missionary cause — 
Origin of missionary meetings among the Wesleyans, 119 

CHAPTER VII. 
His patriotic feeling — High price of provisions — Differs 



CONTENTS VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 351 

with Mr. Pawson for prognosticating evil— Letter to the 
Rev. Edward Irving on prophecy — Threatened invasion of 
Bonaparte — An address to the king — Samuel's loyalty — M. 
A. Taylor, Esq. — The suppression of a religious assembly 
— A defence of a religious revival — His interview with Mr. 
Taylor — Obtains a license to preach — An allusion to him 
in a parliamentary debate, .... Page 150 

CHAPTER VIII. 

His power in prayer — Divine impressions — An afflicting 
providence — Remarkable answers to prayer — Familiar ex- 
pressions in prayer to be avoided — Encounters a blacksmith 
— His usefulness — His meekness under persecution — Sin- 
gular method of self-defence against the aspersions of a cler- 
gyman — Musical festivals — Mr. Bradburn — Lovefeast — Per- 
fection — Seasonable remarks — The doctrine of sanctification 
maintained in opposition to a clergyman — Cheerful disposi- 
tion — Indiscretionate zeal in a meeting of the Society of 
Friends, 169 

CHAPTER IX. 

His self-denial — Sympathy for the poor — Gratitude for 
mercies — Early rising— Singular band-meeting — The best 
way of beginning the day — His conduct in the families he 
visited — Bolton — Ratcliffe Close — Often abrupt in his man- 
ners — His views of proprietorship — A genuine Wesleyan — 
An attempt to purchase him — His character as the head of 
a family — Gives up business— Preaching excursions — Visits 
Rigton — Providential supply — His public addresses — De- 
light in his work — E. Brook, Esq. — Denby Dale — Prosper- 
ity of the work of God — A new chapel — Samuel visits Roch- 
dale — Rises superior to his exercises — Takes a tour into 
different parts of Lancashire — Great commercial distress — 
liberality of P. E. Towneley, Esq. — Meeting for the relief 
of the poor— Samuel's return home — Visits different parts 
of the York circuit — Revival of religion — Persecution, 197 

CHAPTER X. 

His first visit to London — Dialogue at an inn on the road 
— Wesleyan missionary meeting — Preaches at Southwark 
— Exalts divine truth at the expense of human knowledge — 
Persons benefited by his addresses — His notions of nervous 
complaints — His second visit to the metropolis — Mrs. Wrath- 
all ; her character, experience, and affliction — Samuel's gen- 
eral views and feelings, as connected with his second visit 



352 CONTENTS VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. 

— Pleads strenuously for the doctrine of sanctification — Is 
both opposed and supported in it by persons of the Baptist 
persuasion — Receives a gentle admonition from Martha — A 
specimen of one of his public addresses when in one of his 
most felicitous moods, Page 236 

CHAPTER XI. 

Continues in London — An epitome of a week's labour — 
Mrs. WrathalFs religious enjoyments — Samuel meets with 
one converted Jew, and attempts the Christian improve- 
ment of another — Preaches out of doors — Visits Michael 
Angelo Taylor, Esq. — Farther account of Mrs. Wrathall — 
Samuel's usefulness — His love of Yorkshire — Enjoys a ride 
into the country — Goes into Kent — Tent-preaching — Is re- 
proved for loud praying — His views of death — Spiritualizes 
a thunder-storm — An African — Mrs. Wrathall 's death — 
Samuel visits Windsor — Is rendered a blessing to the people 
— Returns to London — Is called into Yorkshire to preach a 
funeral sermon, 252 

CHAPTER XII. 

Takes a tour through different parts of Yorkshire — Low 
state of the work of God at Warter — Gives the preference 
to vocal music in a place of worship — Goes into the Snaith 
circuit — Goole — Meets with old friends — Is affected with 
early recollections, on visiting the scene of Martha's juvenile 
days — Prayer meetings — Returns to Yorkshire — Labours in 
the Easingwold circuit — Is again cheered with the sight of 
old associates — His increasing popularity — Meets with a 
serious accident by a fall from his horse — His conduct when 
under medical attendance — Is visited by Mr. Dawson — His 
partial restoration to health — Visits the West Riding — Pro- 
ceeds into Lancashire — Is attacked by an infidel while 
preaching out of doors at Bolton — Is summoned by letter to 
Grassington — Becomes seriously indisposed— Witnesses the 
liappy death of his niece — Returns home — Declines rapidly 
in health — Attends to some funeral arrangements — His state 
of mind — His triumphant death — The general sympathy ex- 
cited on the occasion — Conclusion — Notes, . 278 



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